Peter B. Pope Joins Jenner & Block as a Partner in New York

Former Head of New York State Attorney General Office's Criminal Division Joins Jenner & Block's White Collar Defense and Investigations Practice

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Jenner & Block

Oct 13, 2010, 10:15 ET

NEW YORK, Oct. 13 /PRNewswire/ -- Jenner & Block today announced that experienced litigator Peter B. Pope has joined the Firm as a partner in its New York office. Mr. Pope served as Deputy Attorney General of New York State, and headed that Office's 100-lawyer Criminal Division from 2000-06. He also served as the state's Director of Policy for two Governors. Mr. Pope began his career as an Assistant District Attorney in Manhattan, where he rose to Deputy Chief of the Labor Racketeering Unit.

Mr. Pope will join Jenner & Block's glittering White Collar Defense and Investigations practice, which includes 10 former federal prosecutors, including firm Chairman Anton R. Valukas, a former U.S. Attorney in Chicago who recently served as the court-appointed Examiner in the Lehman Brothers Bankruptcy, and Andrew Weissmann, a former Director of the Justice Department's Enron Task Force and Chief of the Criminal Division of the U.S. Attorney's Office in the Eastern District of New York.

Mr. Pope's tenure as Deputy Attorney General encompassed significant New York State enforcement actions of national significance that spanned a wide range of industries and legal issues, including the insurance, mutual fund, securities analyst, hedge fund and health care sectors, as well as environmental, political corruption, and computer crimes.

"We are thrilled that Peter is joining Jenner & Block," said Susan C. Levy, Managing Partner of Jenner & Block. "His first-rate courtroom and investigations experience will augment our stellar White Collar practice. We are extraordinarily strong in federal law enforcement experience, and Peter will now augment our strengths with his top-to-bottom experience in investigations by the New York State Attorney General and the New York County District Attorney, which are increasingly important to our clients."

"Peter possesses a unique background in New York State law enforcement and is a tremendous addition to our office," said Richard Ziegler, Managing Partner of the Firm's New York office. "Peter is a sheer delight personally, is deservedly highly-respected by his peers both in and out of the courtroom and will be a wonderful resource for our clients." Jenner & Block's New York office was established in 2005 and now has 40 lawyers, including four former federal prosecutors in the Eastern and Southern Districts of New York and the Northern District of Illinois.

"I am very pleased to be joining such a distinguished team in New York," stated Mr. Pope. "Jenner & Block has one of the top litigation, white collar defense and investigations practices in the nation and has a demonstrated commitment to creative and ethical advocacy."

Following his service as Deputy Attorney General, from 2007-2008 Mr. Pope was the Director of Policy for New York Governors Eliot Spitzer and David Paterson. In that capacity, he advised the Governors on a wide variety of matters and helped negotiate landmark laws with the New York State legislature, including the widely heralded overhaul of the Workers' Compensation system, and one of the nation's strongest Anti-Human Trafficking statutes. Mr. Pope left government service in 2008 to join Arkin Kaplan Rice LLP, one of Manhattan's leading white collar defense boutique firms. He left the firm as a partner.

From 1995-1999, Mr. Pope served as a Vice President and Inspector General at the New York City School Construction Authority, which had an annual budget of over $1 billion. He led investigations into corruption and waste and instituted numerous internal process and integrity reforms.

From 1988-1993, Mr. Pope was an Assistant District Attorney in the New York County District Attorney's Office, where he rose to Deputy Chief of the unit that prosecuted organized crime infiltration into labor unions, and obtained the high profile conviction of Bonanno crime family captain James Galante. Following his work as Deputy Chief of the Labor Racketeering Unit, from 1993-1995 Mr. Pope was a Vice President at Goldman, Sachs and Co., where he led a group of lawyers, consultants and other professionals in a wide range of strategic business and compliance initiatives.

A frequent lecturer on fraud and corruption, Mr. Pope received his A.B., cum laude, from Harvard College and his J.D. from Yale Law School, where he was Notes Editor of The Yale Law Journal. He was a law clerk to the Hon. Robert W. Sweet of the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York.

SOURCE Jenner & Block