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John F. Wood is a partner in the litigation department who focuses on anti-corruption and internal investigations, corporate governance, securities litigation, homeland security, and appellate matters.

Mr. Wood has served in numerous high-level government positions, including U.S. Attorney for the Western District of Missouri. As U.S. Attorney, Mr. Wood was the chief federal law enforcement official for the Western District of Missouri. He supervised a staff of 128 employees, including 68 attorneys and 60 non-attorney support personnel, and oversaw a broad range of federal criminal prosecutions and civil litigation. He personally led the largest corporate fraud and securities investigation in the history of the district, resulting in guilty pleas by the former CEO and CFO of a publicly traded company and a multi-million dollar corporate fine for accounting fraud. He has also supervised numerous other high-profile cases, including cases involving allegations of importation of tainted pet food ingredients from China, funding to benefit a Specially Designated Global Terrorist in Pakistan, money laundering by a former U.S. congressman, an international tax fraud ring, steroid trafficking, the hiring of illegal aliens by several companies, and violations of the False Claims Act by a large health care provider. While serving as U.S. Attorney, Mr. Wood argued before the U.S. Court of Appeals and tried cases before juries.

Mr. Wood previously served as Chief of Staff for the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, the third largest department of the federal government with approximately 180,000 employees and an annual budget of over $40 billion. As Chief of Staff, he assisted and advised the Secretary of Homeland Security on a broad range of matters, including terrorism, intelligence, preparedness, border security, immigration, law enforcement, and management issues.

Mr. Wood previously held several high-level positions at the Department of Justice, including Deputy Associate Attorney General and Counselor to Attorney General John D. Ashcroft. In those positions, he advised the Attorney General, worked on the Department’s most important civil litigation, and helped oversee the Department’s Civil, Civil Rights, Antitrust, Tax, and Environment & Natural Resources Divisions.

Mr. Wood also worked at the White House as Deputy General Counsel for the Office of Management & Budget, where he participated in the development of the federal government’s major legislative, regulatory, management, and appropriations initiatives. As Deputy General Counsel, he supervised attorneys and provided legal advice to senior White House officials.

Mr. Wood practiced commercial and appellate litigation from 1998 to 2001 at the Washington, D.C. office of a national law firm. He also clerked at the Supreme Court of the United States for Justice Clarence Thomas and at the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit for Judge J. Michael Luttig. Prior to law school, he worked on the staff of U.S. Senator John C. Danforth of Missouri.

Previous Experience

  • U.S. Attorney, Western District of Missouri, 2007–2009
  • Chief of Staff, U.S. Department of Homeland Security, 2005–2006
  • Counselor to the Attorney General, U.S. Department of Justice, 2003–2005
  • Deputy General Counsel in the Office of Management and Budget, Executive Office to the President, 2002–2003
  • Deputy Associate Attorney General & Counsel to the Associate Attorney General, U.S. Department of Justice, 2001–2002
  • Associate, Kirkland & Ellis, 1998–2001
  • Law Clerk, The Honorable Clarence Thomas, Supreme Court of the United States, 1997–1998
  • Law Clerk, The Honorable J. Michael Luttig, United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit, 1996–1997
  • Legislative Correspondent, Senator John C. Danforth, 1992–1993

Court Admissions

  • United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit
  • United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit
  • United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit
  • United States District Court for the Western District of Missouri
  • District of Columbia Court of Appeals
  • Supreme Court of Missouri

 

Practice Groups and Other Information

Education Information

  • Harvard Law School, J.D., 1996
    magna cum laude
    Articles Chair, Harvard Law Review
  • University of Virginia, B.A., Government & Foreign Affairs, 1992
    with Honors

Bar Admissions

  • District of Columbia, 1999
  • Missouri, 1998

Highlighted Matters

  • Conducted numerous corporate internal investigations and respresented clients before multiple regulatory and law enforcement agencies
  • Conducted a comprehensive compliance review for a leading government contractor
  • Reviewing and monitoring anti-corruption compliance, internal controls, and financial reporting policies and procedures of Innospec Inc. on behalf of the Monitor appointed by the U.S. Department of Justice, the U.S. Securities & Exchange Commission, and the U.K. Serious Fraud Office
  • Serving as an independent professional ethics and internal compliance expert for a company seeking reinstatement as a United Nations registered vendor
  • Representation of a Fortune 500 company in an internal investigation regarding sanctions compliance
  • Representation of a client in parallel criminal and civil export controls investigations by the U.S. Department of Justice and the U.S. Department of Commerce, Bureau of Industry & Security
  • Current representation of a European-based construction company in a world-wide review for compliance with the U.S. FCPA and the OECD Convention on Combating Bribery of Foreign Public Officials
  • Representation of a client in due diligence review of its business partners and sales agents in countries around the globe
  • Representation of the Trustee for the liquidation of Lehman Brothers Inc. in a multi-billion dollar dispute with a major financial institution
  • Representation of a Fortune 500 company in its response to a grand jury subpoena related to overseas activity
  • Representation of a U.S.-based company in response to an inquiry from FINRA
  • Counseling of a non-profit charitable organization related to anti-corruption laws and overseas activities
  • Representation of a Fortune 500 company in an antitrust and contract-based challenge to a proposed merger between competitors
  • Representation of an industry group in U.S. v. Microsoft
  • Representation of a Fortune 500 company in litigation against the U.S. government related to the cost of environmental cleanup of a World War II era industrial site
  • Pro bono representation of a religious organization related to the constitutionality of a local zoning ordinance

News

Hughes Hubbard Helps Gay Dominican Obtain 'Life-Saving' Asylum (April 2013)
Firm Delivers Clean Sweep for Canada in Softwood Lumber Dispute (August 2012)
Lehman Trustee Awarded Billions (March 2011)
U.S. Attorney Pulled Up Far-flung Roots of Crime (February 2009)

Highlighted Publications

  • Co-author, Update to Corporate Governance: Avoiding and Responding to Misconduct (Law Journal-Seminars Press, 2010).
  • Co-author, “The International Perspective: Lessons from US Authorities’ Enforcement of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act,” Lissack and Horlick on Bribery (LexisNexis 2011).
  • “The FCPA & the Globalization of Law Enforcement,” Tendencias (August 2009).
  • “Case Comment: Missouri v. Jenkins,” 109 Harvard Law Review 239 (1995).
  • “Book Note: The Role of Natural Law in the American Revolution,” 108 Harvard Law Review 1202 (1995).

Highlighted Lectures

  • “Second Annual FCPA/Corruption Update” (Panel, Sandpiper Partners LLC , Washington, D.C., October 4, 2011).
  • “Criminal Prosecution of Corporations in the United States” (University of Milan; Milan, Italy, April 7, 2011).
  • “Anti-Corruption and the U.S. Foreign Corrupt Practices Act” (Panel, Profiting from the Global Recovery in Latin America, Miami, FL, March 17, 2011) (moderator).
  • “FCPA and UK Bribery Act Risk Assessments: Strategies to Identify and Mitigate Corruption Risk and Ensure Compliance” (Strafford Publications CLE, January 6, 2011).
  • “Establishing a Culture of Compliance: Promoting Awareness & Developing Training” (Federated Press 3rd Bribery & Foreign Corruption Course, Toronto, December 13, 2010).
  • “FCPA: Internal Investigations of Suspected Violations; Evaluating Whether to Investigate and Best Practices for a Self-Assessment” (Strafford Publications CLE, November 17, 2010).
  • “Multinationals and Patronage Systems” (Atlantic Council Conference on Bribes and Profits: The Impact of U.S. and European Anti-Corruption and Transparency Initiatives on Business and State Governance in Africa, Washington, D.C., November 2, 2010).
  • “Anti-Corruption and the U.S. Foreign Corrupt Practices Act” (Panel, Joining the Global Recovery in Latin America Seminar, Houston, TX, September 30, 2010).
  • “Conducting Internal Investigations for FCPA Cases” (State Bar of Georgia Conference on the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, Atlanta, GA, September 2, 2010).
  • “Foreign Corrupt Practices Act” (Weathering the Global Recession in Latin America Conference, Miami, FL, March 25, 2010).
  • “The U.S. FCPA & the Globalization of Criminal Law Enforcement” (FCPA from A to Z Conference, Miami, FL, July 7, 2009).
  • “Issues in Conducting Anti-Corruption Investigations Overseas” (BNA Legal Edge Briefing Series, Arlington, VA, April 21, 2009 (Moderator)).
  • “The World of Crime is Flat: The Globalization of Crime in the 21st Century” (speech to multiple audiences).
  • “How Homeland Security Impacts Kansas City Businesses” (Kansas City Federal Reserve, Kansas City, MO, September 19, 2008).
  • “Beyond the Mortgage Meltdown: The Future of Financial Crimes & Corporate Prosecution” (White-Collar Crime Committee of the Kansas City ABA, Kansas City, MO, November 12, 2008).

Publications

FCPA/Anti-Bribery Alert: Summer 2012 (May 2012)
FCPA Anti-Bribery Spring Alert 2011 (May 2011)
FCPA Alert: U.S. and U.K. Authorities Reach Ground-Breaking Settlement with BAE Systems (February 2010)
FCPA Alert: The New 'Sting' of the FCPA (January 2010)

White Papers

FCPA Anti-Bribery Spring Alert 2011 (May 2011)

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