skip to main content

ProfessionalsJeh Charles Johnson

Jeh Charles Johnson

Jeh Charles Johnson

Partner

Partner

Tel: +1-212-373-3093
Fax: +1-212-492-0093
jjohnson@paulweiss.com

+1-212-373-3093
New York

1285 Avenue of the Americas
New York, NY 10019-6064
Fax: +1-212-492-0093

Washington

2001 K Street, NW
Washington, DC 20006-1047

Education 
Bar Admissions 
Education 
Bar Admissions 

A partner in the Litigation Department, Jeh Johnson has had a distinguished career combining private law practice at Paul, Weiss and senior-level public service, including three Senate-confirmed presidential appointments. In public life, he served as Secretary of Homeland Security (2013-2017), General Counsel of the Department of Defense (2009-2012), General Counsel of the Department of the Air Force (1998-2001) and as an Assistant United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York (1989-1991). In private practice, Secretary Johnson is an experienced litigator and trial lawyer, and a Fellow in the American College of Trial Lawyers. Since returning to Paul, Weiss in 2017, Secretary Johnson also advises clients, including high-tech companies and government contractors, on the legal aspects of cybersecurity, national security, data privacy, government contracting, crisis management, high-stakes litigation and regulatory matters.

EXPERIENCE

Secretary Johnson has been affiliated with Paul, Weiss on and off since 1984. He was elected a partner in 1993, currently serves as a member of the firm’s Management and Partnership Committees, and is resident in both the New York and Washington offices.

As head of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, Secretary Johnson was responsible for counterterrorism; cybersecurity; border, port, aviation and maritime security; enforcement and administration of immigration laws; response to national disasters; detection and prevention of nuclear, chemical and biological threats; and the protection of critical infrastructure and the nation’s leadership. Secretary Johnson is credited with building a more effective, cohesive Department of Homeland Security and with raising morale. He served as the public face of the U.S. government’s homeland security mission, engaging with the press on numerous occasions and testifying before Congress 26 times. Secretary Johnson managed 230,000 employees in 22 different components and agencies, including U.S. Customs and Border Protection, the Transportation Security Administration, the Coast Guard, Immigration and Customs Enforcement, Citizenship and Immigration Services, the Federal Emergency Management Agency and the Secret Service.

Between 2009-2012, Secretary Johnson served as General Counsel of the U.S. Department of Defense, where he was a primary legal architect for the military’s counterterrorism missions in the Obama Administration, and was responsible for the prior legal approval for every military operation authorized by the President and the Secretary of Defense. He co-authored the 2010 report that paved the way for the repeal of the “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” law by Congress. In his book Duty, former Secretary of Defense Robert Gates called Johnson “the finest lawyer I ever worked with in government – a straightforward, plain-speaking man of great integrity, with common sense to burn and a good sense of humor.”

Between 1998-2001, Secretary Johnson served as General Counsel of the U.S. Air Force. He also served as an Assistant United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York from 1989-1991, trying 12 cases before a jury and arguing 11 appeals in three years.

Over his many years of private practice at Paul, Weiss, Secretary Johnson has successfully handled a variety of civil and white collar matters for some of the firm’s most important clients. In 1994 he and two other partners successfully defended Armstrong World Industries in a four-month jury trial involving claims that Armstrong violated the antitrust laws. In 2005, he successfully defended Citigroup against a $900 million arbitration claim — at the time the largest ever filed before the National Association of Securities Dealers (NASD). That same year he successfully defended Citigroup against an $86 million claim before the NASD.

BOARDS AND OTHER ACTIVITIES

Secretary Johnson is on the board of directors of Lockheed Martin, the Council on Foreign Relations and the Center for a New American Security. He is also a non-resident Senior Fellow at the Harvard Kennedy School, and has debated numerous times at both the Oxford and Cambridge Unions in England. His November 2012 address at the Oxford Union, “How Will the War Against al Qaeda End?,” received international attention and acclaim. In November 2019 Secretary Johnson was made an honorary life member of the Cambridge Union. Secretary Johnson has also lectured at Westminster College, Arizona State, Kansas State, UC Berkeley, Harvard and Yale Law Schools, the National War College and all four U.S. military academies.

In private life, Secretary Johnson is a regular commentator on national issues on ABC, CBS, NBC, MSNBC, CNBC, CNN, PBS, FOX, FOX Business, Bloomberg TV and numerous other outlets, and he has published op-eds in the Washington Post, The Wall Street Journal and The Hill. Since leaving government, he has also been called to testify before Congress four times on the subjects of cybersecurity and national security.

From 2001-2004, Johnson chaired the Judiciary Committee of the New York City Bar Association, which rates and approves all federal, state and local judges in New York City. He has also served as a member of the Executive Committee of New York City Bar. In the past, Johnson has served as a trustee, director or governor of Adelphi University, the New York Hall of Science, the Legal Aid Society, the Film Society of Lincoln Center, the New York Community Trust, the City Bar Fund, the Roosevelt Institute, the National Institute of Military Justice, the Federal Bar Council, the Fund for Modern Courts, Vera Institute of Justice and the Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law.

AWARDS AND RECOGNITIONS

In 2018, Secretary Johnson was the recipient of the Ronald Reagan Peace Through Strength Award, presented at the Reagan Presidential Library, for “contributing greatly to the defense of our nation” and “guiding us through turbulent times with courage and wisdom.” He has received numerous other awards and acknowledgments, including three Department of Defense medals for distinguished public service, and ten honorary degrees.

© 2020 Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison LLP

Privacy Policy