Tony West (attorney)

Tony West
United States Associate Attorney General
In office March 9, 2012 – September 2014
President	Barack Obama
Preceded by	Thomas Perrelli
Personal details
Born	Derek Anthony West (1965-08-12) August 12, 1965 San Francisco, California, U.S.
Political party	Democratic
Alma mater	Harvard University Stanford Law School

Tony West (born August 12, 1965) is an American lawyer who currently serves as Executive Vice President of Government Affairs, General Counsel and Corporate Secretary for PepsiCo, Inc.^[1] West previously served as the Associate Attorney General of the United States, the third highest-ranking official in the United States Department of Justice, and Assistant Attorney General of the Civil Division, the largest litigating division in the Department of Justice.^[2] During his time at the Department, West played an integral role in the Obama Administration's decision to stop defending the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) after concluding that the statute was unconstitutional.^[3]

West also secured nearly $37 billion for American consumers and investors harmed by the financial crisis^[4] and elevated the Department's efforts to improve public safety in Indian country, including the landmark tribal provisions in the 2013 reauthorization of the Violence Against Women Act (VAWA).^[5][6][7] On August 21, 2014, West secured a $16.65 billion settlement with Bank of America – the largest settlement with a single entity in American history — to resolve federal and state claims against Bank of America and its former and current subsidiaries, including Countrywide Financial Corporation and Merrill Lynch.^[8][9]

Early life and education

Tony West was born in San Francisco, California, to parents Franklin and Peggy West.^[10][11] His father, the first person in his family to attend college, was born and raised in Georgia and worked for IBM; while his mother, who was a teacher, was born and raised in Alabama.^[10][12] West was raised in San Jose, California, where he lived with his two younger sisters; Pamela and Patricia.^[13] He attended Bellarmine College Preparatory, a Catholic, all-male, private secondary school, where he served as freshman class president, before graduating in 1983.^[14]

West received his Bachelor of Arts in government from Harvard University in 1987, where he served as the Publisher of the Harvard Political Review.^[15] In 1988, West began volunteering and working on political campaigns, engaging in Democratic political causes, such as working as the chief of staff to the Boston, Massachusetts treasurer of Michael Dukakis's presidential campaign.^[16] West also served as a finance director to the Democratic Governors Association, until 1989.^[16] He received his Juris Doctor from Stanford Law School in 1992, where he served as the President of the Stanford Law Review.^[17] While attending Stanford, he worked as a summer intern for Swidler Berlin Shereff Friedman in 1990.^[16] He also worked as a summer intern for Tuttle & Taylor, and Morrison & Foerster in 1991.^[10]

Career

After graduating, West continued his work in Democratic politics, working as chief of staff to the finance chair of the California Democratic Party, while also working in private practice as an associate at the Bingham McCutchen San Jose office, from 1992 to 1993.^[10] In 1993, he joined the State Bar of California, and was admitted to the Superior Court of California and the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California.^[16]

From 1999 to 2001, he was a Special Assistant Attorney General in the Office of the California Attorney General, under Bill Lockyer.^[18][19] From 2001 to 2009, he was a litigation partner at Morrison & Foerster LLP in San Francisco.^[20] He also served as the California co-chairman of Barack Obama's 2008 presidential campaign.^[21]

U.S. Department of Justice

West began his career at the Justice Department when he joined the Clinton administration in 1993, as a Special Assistant under Philip Heymann, the Deputy Attorney General of the United States Department of Justice,^[22] until 1994, when he was appointed as an Assistant United States Attorney (AUSA) for the Northern District of California.^[18] As an Assistant U.S. Attorney, West prosecuted child sexual exploitation, fraud, narcotics distribution, interstate theft, and high tech crime.^[23]

Civil Division

In 2009, West returned to the Justice Department when President Obama nominated him to serve as Assistant Attorney General of the Department of Justice Civil Division.^[24]

Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA)

West led the Obama Administration's review of the constitutionality of the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA), which ultimately resulted in President Obama's and Attorney General Holder's decision to stop defending DOMA and paved the way for the Supreme Court's ruling that the Constitution guarantees the right to same-sex marriage.^[25][26][27]

Protecting Taxpayers and Consumers

In addition to focusing on traditional areas of the Civil Division's work, West helped the department further its most important priority – protecting national security.^[28] He also bolstered the division's affirmative civil enforcement efforts in areas such as health care fraud, mortgage fraud, and procurement fraud to recover taxpayer money lost to fraud and abuse, resulting in unprecedented monetary recoveries. During his tenure at the helm of the Civil Division, the Division recovered more than $8.8 billion in taxpayer money under the False Claims Act—the largest three-year total in history at the time of West's departure from the Division.^[29] On the consumer protection front, West oversaw cases that resulted in more than 115 criminal convictions, as well as recoveries of more than $3.5 billion, during his three-year tenure.^[30]

Preemption Lawsuits Challenging State Immigration Laws

West was personally involved in the Department's preemption lawsuits challenging immigration laws passed in Arizona, Alabama, South Carolina, and Utah.^[31][32][33] The Department's core arguments—that each of the states' immigration laws is constitutionally preempted, because it is the federal government and not the states that is vested with the primary authority and the primary responsibility in immigration matters—ultimately prevailed in the Supreme Court.^[34]

Associate Attorney General

Beginning on March 9, 2012, West served as the Acting Associate Attorney General until the U.S. Senate confirmed West to be Associate Attorney General in a 98-1 vote on July 25, 2013.^[35][28]

Associate Attorney General Tony West visits Nelson Mandela's cell on Robben Island, South Africa in June 2014.

^[36]

PepsiCo

On October 7, 2014, PepsiCo, Inc. announced that West had joined the company as executive vice president of government affairs, general counsel and corporate secretary, effective November 24, 2014.^[37] West succeeded Larry Thompson, who retired after almost a decade of service.^[30] West is responsible for PepsiCo's worldwide legal function and government affairs organization, as well as the company's global compliance function and the PepsiCo Foundation.^[30] He reports to PepsiCo Chairman and CEO Indra Nooyi.

Political campaigns

In 1998, West ran for a seat on the San Jose City Council.^[38] In the primary, West's main challenger was Cindy Chavez, the staff director of Working Partnerships USA. He came in second to Chavez in the June 2nd primary, with 41.2% of the vote.^[39] With help from many labor groups and organizations backing Chavez's campaign,^[40] West was ultimately defeated, receiving 48% of the vote in the general election.^[41]

West also ran for the California State Assembly, for the 23rd district, in 2000.^[14] After incumbent Mike Honda ran for the U.S. House of Representatives, leaving a vacancy, West was one of six Democrats to run for the open seat. He was defeated in the primary, by San Jose City Councilman Manny Diaz; receiving 38% of the total votes cast.^[42]

Personal life

West is married to Maya Harris, Senior Policy Adviser to Hillary Clinton and former Vice President of the Ford Foundation in New York City.^[43] His sister-in-law is current Attorney General of California Kamala Harris.^[21]

References

External links

• http://www.justice.gov/asg/meet-aag.html Biography Page on Department of Justice Website