New York, NY, June 16, 2004 – LAWFUEL – Debevoise & Plimpton LLP is pleased to announce that
James E. Johnson, a highly regarded litigator with broad experience in
criminal and complex civil litigation, will be joining the firm’s
Litigation Department as a partner tomorrow, June 16. Mr. Johnson is a
former Under Secretary of the United States Department of the Treasury,
and a former Assistant United States Attorney and Deputy Chief of the
Criminal Division of the United States Attorney’s Office for the
Southern District of New York.
He began his legal career as an associate
at Debevoise & Plimpton LLP. Mr. Johnson will concentrate primarily on
criminal defense and internal investigations as a member of Debevoise’s
white collar practice group, a major component of the firm’s 220 lawyer
litigation department led by Mary Jo White,
former U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York.
Ms. White commented, “We are delighted to have Jim join us and to have
the benefit of his experience, abilities and judgment. Jim has
distinguished himself in both the public and private sectors with his
litigation skills, his wisdom and his dedication to achieving successful
and fair results. He will be a tremendous addition to Debevoise’s
litigation practice.”
Mr. Johnson was most recently a partner of Morrison & Foerster LLP,
where his practice focused on white collar criminal defense, internal
investigations, corporate compliance and corporate crisis management in
connection with internal investigations. He held several senior
positions in the United States Department of the Treasury, including
Under Secretary of the Treasury for Enforcement (1998-2001) and
Assistant Secretary of the Treasury for Enforcement (1996-98). He
oversaw the operations of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco & Firearms, the
Secret Service, the United States Customs Service, the Federal Law
Enforcement Training Center, the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network
and the Office of Foreign Assets Control. Prior to that, Mr. Johnson
served as an Assistant United States Attorney for the Southern District
of New York (1990-96), where he rose to Deputy Chief of the Criminal
Division (1993-96).
During his tenure in the Southern District, he
assisted in the management of the criminal division while prosecuting a
wide variety of criminal cases, and was detailed to the United States
Department of the Treasury to serve on the White House Security Review.
Mr. Johnson has received numerous awards for his service and
accomplishments in both private practice and public service. Mr. Johnson
is the recipient of the Alexander Hamilton Award (the Department of
Treasury’s highest award, given to officials for excellence in service)
and the Attorney General’s Certificate for Excellence in Prosecution. In
2003, he was named to Black Enterprise’s List of the Nation’s Top Black
Lawyers and to Crain’s New York Business’s List of Most Powerful
Minorities.
Mr. Johnson is also a member of the Executive Committee of
the Brennan Center for Justice, a member of the Executive Committee of
Hale House, and a director of Volunteers of Legal Services.
Mr. Johnson was a law clerk to the Honorable Robert E. Keeton, United
States District Judge for the District of Massachusetts (1986-87). He
received his J.D. cum laude in 1986 from Harvard Law School, where he
contributed to the Harvard Civil Rights-Civil Liberties Law Review, and
received his A.B. cum laude from Harvard College in 1983.
Debevoise’s litigation department has been involved in many of the most
prominent recent investigations and litigations involving major
financial reversals, restatements of reported financial results,
allegations of securities fraud and other asserted corporate wrongdoing.
In addition to white collar criminal and SEC enforcement defense and
securities litigations, the firm’s litigation practice also includes
matters involving mass tort product liability, antitrust, intellectual
property, international arbitration, bankruptcy, mergers and
acquisitions, consumer fraud, employment matters and major contract
disputes.