Cleary Gottlieb Adds Former Southern District Acting Criminal Division Chief Jonathan Kolodner as Litigation Counsel in New York
February 6, 2012
International law firm Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton LLP announced today that Jonathan Kolodner will join the firm as counsel based in the New York office. Mr. Kolodner, 39, most recently served as the Acting Chief of the Criminal Division of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York and as Special Counsel to the U.S. Attorney. He joins the firm’s litigation and enforcement practice and will focus on criminal, securities, and other enforcement and regulatory matters as well as on complex commercial litigation.
“With a dozen years of experience as a federal prosecutor, including serving in a number of senior leadership positions at the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Manhattan, Jonathan brings deep criminal and regulatory enforcement and trial expertise to our firm. He will be a superb addition to our global litigation and enforcement team, particularly on white-collar defense, securities regulation, Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, and internal investigation matters,” said Cleary Gottlieb Managing Partner Mark Leddy. “He will join an already robust litigation and enforcement practice that now includes ten partners and counsel who are former U.S. federal prosecutors.”
A prosecutor with the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York since 2000, Mr. Kolodner served in numerous leadership positions in the Office and has overseen some of the Office’s most complex and high-profile investigations and prosecutions. He served as Acting Chief of the Criminal Division from October 2011 through January 2012. In that role, he supervised the Office’s more than 160 prosecutors in a wide range of matters including securities fraud, other complex white-collar crimes, terrorism, and violent crimes.
Prior to that role, Mr. Kolodner spent two years as the Chief of the Complex Frauds Unit. In this capacity, he oversaw 20 senior prosecutors investigating sophisticated, large-scale white-collar crimes ranging from financial and investment matters to Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) violations and computer and intellectual property offenses like hacking and theft of trade secrets. Mr. Kolodner also served as the Office’s Mortgage Fraud Coordinator, where he supervised a strike force of Assistant U.S. Attorneys investigating mortgage fraud and other financial schemes in response to the financial crisis.
In addition, from 2006 to 2008, Mr. Kolodner was a Deputy Chief Appellate Attorney for the Southern District’s Criminal Division, where he oversaw dozens of appeals and handled numerous arguments before the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit.
Mr. Kolodner also spent four years as an Assistant U.S. Attorney in the Office’s Organized Crime and Terrorism Unit and has represented the United States in more than 12 jury trials. In 2008, he was awarded the Department of Justice’s Director’s Award for Superior Performance in connection with his prosecution of over 30 members and associates of the Genovese Organized Crime Family.
Mr. Kolodner clerked for the Honorable Chester J. Straub of the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit from 1998 to 2000, and for the Honorable John G. Koeltl of the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York from 1997 to 1998. He received his J.D., cum laude, from Harvard Law School in 1997 and an undergraduate degree, magna cum laude, from Harvard College in 1994. For the past four years, he has also been a lecturer-in-law at Columbia Law School.
“I am very excited to be joining Cleary Gottlieb’s global litigation and enforcement practice. The firm is handling some of the world’s most significant and complex cross-border litigation and criminal matters, and I look forward to working with the many talented lawyers across all of the firm’s offices,” commented Mr. Kolodner.
About Cleary Gottlieb’s Litigation and Arbitration Practice
Recognized as one of the top litigation groups in the world, Cleary Gottlieb provides clients with creative and result-oriented litigation and arbitration counsel in matters ranging from major commercial disputes to sensitive internal, regulatory, or criminal investigations. To learn more, click here.
About Cleary Gottlieb’s White-Collar Defense, Securities Enforcement and Internal Investigations Practice
The firm’s white-collar defense, securities enforcement, and internal investigations practice is anchored by ten former federal prosecutors, including a former Acting U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York, as well as three former General Counsel of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. To learn more, click here.
About Cleary Gottlieb
Founded in 1946 by lawyers committed to legal excellence, internationalism, and diversity, Cleary Gottlieb is a leading international law firm with approximately 1,200 lawyers around the world.
“With a dozen years of experience as a federal prosecutor, including serving in a number of senior leadership positions at the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Manhattan, Jonathan brings deep criminal and regulatory enforcement and trial expertise to our firm. He will be a superb addition to our global litigation and enforcement team, particularly on white-collar defense, securities regulation, Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, and internal investigation matters,” said Cleary Gottlieb Managing Partner Mark Leddy. “He will join an already robust litigation and enforcement practice that now includes ten partners and counsel who are former U.S. federal prosecutors.”
A prosecutor with the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York since 2000, Mr. Kolodner served in numerous leadership positions in the Office and has overseen some of the Office’s most complex and high-profile investigations and prosecutions. He served as Acting Chief of the Criminal Division from October 2011 through January 2012. In that role, he supervised the Office’s more than 160 prosecutors in a wide range of matters including securities fraud, other complex white-collar crimes, terrorism, and violent crimes.
Prior to that role, Mr. Kolodner spent two years as the Chief of the Complex Frauds Unit. In this capacity, he oversaw 20 senior prosecutors investigating sophisticated, large-scale white-collar crimes ranging from financial and investment matters to Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) violations and computer and intellectual property offenses like hacking and theft of trade secrets. Mr. Kolodner also served as the Office’s Mortgage Fraud Coordinator, where he supervised a strike force of Assistant U.S. Attorneys investigating mortgage fraud and other financial schemes in response to the financial crisis.
In addition, from 2006 to 2008, Mr. Kolodner was a Deputy Chief Appellate Attorney for the Southern District’s Criminal Division, where he oversaw dozens of appeals and handled numerous arguments before the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit.
Mr. Kolodner also spent four years as an Assistant U.S. Attorney in the Office’s Organized Crime and Terrorism Unit and has represented the United States in more than 12 jury trials. In 2008, he was awarded the Department of Justice’s Director’s Award for Superior Performance in connection with his prosecution of over 30 members and associates of the Genovese Organized Crime Family.
Mr. Kolodner clerked for the Honorable Chester J. Straub of the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit from 1998 to 2000, and for the Honorable John G. Koeltl of the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York from 1997 to 1998. He received his J.D., cum laude, from Harvard Law School in 1997 and an undergraduate degree, magna cum laude, from Harvard College in 1994. For the past four years, he has also been a lecturer-in-law at Columbia Law School.
“I am very excited to be joining Cleary Gottlieb’s global litigation and enforcement practice. The firm is handling some of the world’s most significant and complex cross-border litigation and criminal matters, and I look forward to working with the many talented lawyers across all of the firm’s offices,” commented Mr. Kolodner.
About Cleary Gottlieb’s Litigation and Arbitration Practice
Recognized as one of the top litigation groups in the world, Cleary Gottlieb provides clients with creative and result-oriented litigation and arbitration counsel in matters ranging from major commercial disputes to sensitive internal, regulatory, or criminal investigations. To learn more, click here.
About Cleary Gottlieb’s White-Collar Defense, Securities Enforcement and Internal Investigations Practice
The firm’s white-collar defense, securities enforcement, and internal investigations practice is anchored by ten former federal prosecutors, including a former Acting U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York, as well as three former General Counsel of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. To learn more, click here.
About Cleary Gottlieb
Founded in 1946 by lawyers committed to legal excellence, internationalism, and diversity, Cleary Gottlieb is a leading international law firm with approximately 1,200 lawyers around the world.