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Paul, Weiss Welcomes Former General Counsel of the Department of Defense Back to Private Practice
- Client News
- January 22, 2013
Jeh Charles Johnson, the former General Counsel of the Department of Defense, has resumed the private practice of law as a partner in Paul, Weiss's litigation department, resident in Washington, D.C.
"We are so proud of Jeh's public service and of his contributions to our nation. We are thrilled to welcome a lawyer of his distinction back to our partnership," said Paul, Weiss chair Brad S. Karp.
"It's a privilege and a pleasure to return to my professional home, Paul, Weiss, and I look forward to rejoining my partners and serving the firm's clients," said Mr. Johnson.
At the Department of Defense, where he was appointed to his post by President Obama in February 2009, Mr. Johnson served as the chief legal officer to the largest agency of government in the world, overseeing the legal work of over 10,000 lawyers. While there, Mr. Johnson was at the center of many key legal issues in the first four years of the Obama Administration. He spearheaded the reforms to the military commissions system that were adopted by Congress in 2009; he co-authored the report that paved the way for the repeal of Don't Ask, Don't Tell by the Congress in 2010, and he was one of the legal architects of the U.S. military's successful counterterrorism policies in recent years, outlined in the widely noted address Mr. Johnson delivered at the Oxford Union in November 2012.
Consistent with Paul, Weiss's public service heritage, Mr. Johnson has now left and returned to Paul, Weiss on three separate occasions to serve in government. In 1998, Mr. Johnson was appointed by President Clinton to be General Counsel of the Department of the Air Force. Mr. Johnson served in that position for 27 months and returned to Paul, Weiss in January 2001. In 1989, Mr. Johnson left Paul, Weiss to become an Assistant United States Attorney in the Southern District of New York, where he prosecuted public corruption cases. Mr. Johnson was an AUSA for three years, and his career as a trial lawyer began while he was a federal prosecutor. In private practice at Paul, Weiss, Mr. Johnson has continued to try significant civil and criminal cases, and he is a Fellow of the American College of Trial Lawyers.
Mr. Johnson is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations and is admitted to practice in both New York and Washington, D.C.