Thomas J. Perrelli

Thomas J. Perrelli
Associate Attorney General of the United States
Incumbent
Assumed office
March 12, 2009
President Barack Obama
Preceded by Kevin J. O'Connor
Personal details
Born March 12, 1966 (1966-03-12) (age 45)
Falls Church, Virginia
Nationality  United States
Political party Democratic
Alma mater Brown University (B.A.)
Harvard Law School (J.D.)
Occupation Lawyer

Thomas John Perrelli (born March 12, 1966) is an American lawyer and the United States Associate Attorney General. Perrelli also served as Deputy Assistant Attorney General of the United States in the late 1990s.

Contents

Early life

As a high school senior at W.T. Woodson HS, he was co-captain of the Fairfax All-County Math Team. He was a three time National Junior Classical League Certamen (Latin competition) champion. Also, his freshman year at Brown, 1984, he placed first in the annual William Lowell Putnam Mathematical Competition.[1] He earned his A.B., magna cum laude in History from Brown University in 1988, where he served as Editor-in-Chief of The Critical Review, Brown's student publication of course evaluations. Perrelli graduated from Harvard Law School, magna cum laude, in 1991, where he was managing editor of the Harvard Law Review, working under Barack Obama, who was President of the Harvard Law Review at the time.[2] Perrelli is admitted to practice before the United States Supreme Court, the Virginia and District of Columbia courts and numerous other federal courts. Prior to joining Jenner & Block, in 1991-92, Perrelli clerked for the Honorable Royce C. Lamberth of the United States District Court for the District of Columbia.

Jenner & Block

Before joining the Obama administration, Perelli was managing partner of Jenner & Block's Washington office, Co-Chair of the firm's Entertainment and New Media Practice, and a member of the firm's Appellate and Supreme Court, Class Action Litigation, Health Care Law, Intellectual Property, Litigation & Dispute Resolution, Media and First Amendment, and Telecommunications Practices. He was also a member of the firm's Management Committee. Perrelli concentrated his practice on copyright, media, and constitutional litigation, as well as complex litigation with a public policy or regulatory component. The National Law Journal once listed him among the nation's 40 most promising lawyers under 40 for exhibiting "extraordinary achievements" in his career.

Perrelli regularly represented the recording industry in intellectual property, technology, and anti-copyright-infringement litigation. He has represented the recording industry in a host of cases arising under the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA), as well as in copyright infringement and digital piracy litigation. Since his return to Jenner and Block in 2001, Perrelli has also represented Democratic voters and elected officials in redistricting litigation arising out of the 2000 Census.

He represented Michael Schiavo (2003–2005) and won for him the right to terminate his wife's life support.[2]

Perrelli was previously an associate at Jenner & Block from 1992 to 1997.

Clinton administration

In 1997, Perrelli left Jenner & Block to join the Department of Justice and served as counsel to Attorney General Janet Reno. He subsequently rose to Deputy Assistant Attorney General, supervising the Federal Programs Branch of the Civil Division, which represents virtually every federal agency in complex civil litigation. In that role, Perrelli led a staff of 100 attorneys charged with defending the constitutionality of federal statutes, defending federal agency action and regulations, representing the diplomatic and national security interests of the United States in courts of law, and conducting significant Title VII, personnel and social security litigation.

Perrelli also supervised the Justice Department's Tobacco Litigation Team in its litigation against the major cigarette manufacturers. In addition, he played a leading role on significant policy issues ranging from medical records privacy and the use of adjusted figures in the census to Indian gaming and legal ethics.

Obama administration

On January 5, 2009, President-elect Barack Obama nominated Perrelli as the 18th Associate Attorney General of the United States.[3] He was confirmed by the United States Senate in a 72-20 vote on March 12, 2009.[4]

Mr. Perrelli ordered career attorneys in the Civil Rights Division to drop a civil case they had prepared (under the 1965 Voting Rights Act) against members of the New Black Panther Party for voter intimidation at Philadelphia polling places in the United States elections, 2008.[5][6][7]

Publications

References

  1. ^ Source: David Goldsmith, 1984 Fairfax Co. Math Teammate, opposing Certamen competitor, and Brown Class of '88.
  2. ^ a b "Thomas J. Perrelli - WhoRunsGov.com, a Wash Post Co". National Journal. Washington Post Company. http://www.whorunsgov.com/Profiles/Thomas_J._Perrelli. Retrieved 2009-08-20. "Perrelli represented Michael Schiavo from 2003 to 2005, the husband of Terri Schiavo. He fought for and eventually won Michael’s right to decide the fate of his ailing wife." 
  3. ^ Lichtblau, Eric (January 5, 2009). "Obama Fills Top Justice Department Spots". New York Times. http://thecaucus.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/01/05/obama-fills-top-justice-department-spots/. Retrieved 2009-01-05. 
  4. ^ U.S. Senate Roll Call Votes - Nomination of Thomas Perrelli, senate.gov.
  5. ^ Lucey, Catherine; Chris Brennan (January 8, 2009). "Feds Sue New Black Panthers Over Election Day Dispute". Philadelphia Daily News. http://www.philly.com/philly/blogs/cityhall/37270369.html. Retrieved 2009-08-20. "Remember these guys from the Nov. 4 general election? The U.S. Department of Justice does. The feds sued the New Black Panther Party for Self-Defense today, accusing the organization of attempting to intimidate voters. The Justice Department is asking a judge for an injunction to prevent future "deployment" of New Black Panther members at polling places during elections. You can read the Department's full press release after the jump." 
  6. ^ "Feds Suing "New Black Panther Party" for Philly Voter Intimidation". NBC (Philadelphia, Pennsylvania). January 8, 2009. http://www.nbcphiladelphia.com/news/local-beat/Feds-Suing-New-Black-Panther-Party-for-Philly-Voter-Intimidation.html. Retrieved 2009-08-20. "The U.S. Justice Department is suing the New Black Panther Party for Self-Defense and three of its members over what authorities allege was Election Day voter intimidation in Philadelphia. The lawsuit filed Wednesday in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia alleges that two men intimidated voters Nov. 4 by standing outside a polling place at 1221 Fairmount Avenue wearing party uniforms. A video of the men, one holding a police-style baton weapon, was widely distributed on the Internet. The video can be seen below." 
  7. ^ Seper, Jerry (July 30, 2009). "EXCLUSIVE: No. 3 at Justice OK'd Panther reversal. Case involved polling place in Philadelphia.". Washington Times. http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2009/jul/30/no-3-at-justice-okd-panther-reversal/. Retrieved 2009-08-20. "Associate Attorney General Thomas J. Perrelli, the No. 3 official in the Obama Justice Department, was consulted and ultimately approved a decision in May to reverse course and drop a civil complaint accusing three members of the New Black Panther Party of intimidating voters in Philadelphia during November's election, according to interviews. The department's career lawyers in the Voting Section of the Civil Rights Division who pursued the complaint for five months had recommended that Justice seek sanctions against the party and three of its members after the government had already won a default judgment in federal court against the men. Front-line lawyers were in the final stages of completing that work when they were unexpectedly told by their superiors in late April to seek a delay after a meeting between political appointees and career supervisors, according to federal records and interviews." 

External links

Legal offices
Preceded by
Kevin J. O'Connor		 United States Associate Attorney General
2009 – present		 Succeeded by
Incumbent