EMPLOYMENT
Resume of Irvin B. Nathan
June,2015
Irv.Nathan@aporter.com
202-942-6267
Senior Counsel, Arnold & Porter, Washington, D.C.(.Januwy, 2015-present)
Attorney General for the District of Columbia (January, 2011-December, 2014) (Served as the
chief legal officer of the nation’s capital, managing a staff of 700 people, including 350 lawyers.
Supervised all civil litigation and appeals on behalf of the city; responsible for criminal
prosecutions of juveniles and adult misdemeanants; issued formal legal. opinions and provided
advice to Mayor, Cabinet and Council on wide variety of legal issues; supervised contract, tax
and real estate issues; supervised social service unit that enforced support payments from noncustodial
parents to custodial parents; supervised general counsel of each of the Mayor’s
agencies, including departments of police, fire, public works and education.)
General Counsel, U.S. House ofRepresentatives, (November, 2007-December, 2010) (Appointed
by the Speaker of the House and responsible for providing legal advice to leadership of the
House. its members and staff and handling litigation where the official interests of the House or
its members or officers were implicated, including U.S. House of Representatives v. Miers, (558
F. Supp. 2d 53, D.D.C. 2008) where the Com·t issued a landmark ruling that senior White House
officials are not immune from House subpoenas)
Senior Partner, Arnold & Porter , Washington, D. C. (1994-2007) (Chair, White Collar Defense
Department) (handled wide variety of complex criminal and civil litigation, including defense of
CFO of World.Com in one of the largest financial scandals in the nation’s history; defense of a
Clinton Cabinet officer in a preliminary investigation that aborted an independent counsel
investigation; defense of a former Secretary of the Navy; representation of a U.S. Senator and his
top staff in a Senate investigation; representation of Fortune 500 companies and their executives
in grand jury proceedings , and representation of defrauded companies, including CBS Radio,
Inc .. ) (In this period handled arbitrations for a world-wide accounting firm and served as a partyarbitrator
for an international sports apparel company.)
Principal Assodate Deputy Attorney General, US. Department of Justice (1993-1994) (served
as top aide to Deputy Attorney General Philip B. Heymann, who supervised all 94 U.S.
Attorneys, Director of the FBI, the Director of the Drug Enforcement Administration, and the
Director of the Bureau of Prisons. Handled a variety of policy issues, including federal criminal
legislation, international criminal assistance treaties, and relations with the defense bar.)
Litigation Partner , Arnold & Porter, Washington , D. C. (J 981-1993) (handled wide variety of
complex civil, criminal and administrative litigation and congressional representations, including
civil RICO, securities, antitrust, and consumer protection matters. Successfully defended national
law firm partner in multi-month criminal trial in federal court; represented City of New York in
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civil RlCO suit against tax defrauders; and served as special minority counsel to U.S. Senate
Intelligence Committee in investigation of CIA Director.)
Deputy Assistant Attorney General for Enforcement, Criminal Division, U.S. Department of
Justice. (} 979-198 I) (Supervised organized crime and racketeering strike forces across the
country; supervised the narcotics and dangerous drug section and the appellate section, dealing
with all federal appeals from convictions; supervised all of the ABSCAM prosecutions, which
resulted in convictions of a U.S. Senator , six members of Congress and numerous local officials;
and testified before Congress on an anay of policy issues affecting the enforcement of the
federal criminal law.)
Partner, Arnold & Porter. Washington. D.C (1976-1979) (General Civil Litigation) (Handled a
wide variety of federal and state civil litigations, including defense of securities and antitrust
class actions: accounting malpractice cases; defamation suits; insider trading suits; breach of
contract litigation; and defense of a family farm in a federal litigation against a major trade
association.)
Associate, Arnold & Porter. Washington, D.C (1968-1975) (wide variety of litigation, including
antitrust defense, securities fraud defense, defense of agricultural importers before federal
administrative agencies, intellectual property matters for computer manufacturers, general tort
and contract matters, and defense of Commissioner of Baseball in federal litigation brought by
major league team owner, Charles Finley v. Bowie Kuhn.)
Law Clerk lo Judge Simon E. Sobelo.ff, United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit,
(/967-1968)
BAR ACTIVITIES
Vice Chai1man (2007-2008). D.C. Board of Professional Responsibility (member appointed by
D.C. Court of Appeals, 2004-2008) (wrote published opinions on attorney discipline cases
appealed from Hearing Examiners; heard oral arguments on appeals, and for two years presided
over such oral arguments when Chai1man was unavailable). (Opinions I authored are available
upon request.)
Hearing Examiner, D.C. Board of Professional Responsibility (2001-2004) (presided over
hearings and prepared findings of facts and conclusions of law in issuing recommendations that
were appealable to the Board);
Chairman, Ethics Committee of the D.C. Bar (1999-2001) (Wrote published legal opinions
interpreting D.C. Rules of Professional Conduct in response to inquiries from the Bar )
Fellow American College of Trial Lawyers ( 1997-present)
Member, American Law Institute (1994-present)
Member, American Bar Foundation (1995-present)
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Member, O.C. Bar Committee on Civility in Litigation ( 1993-1996)
Chairman, Nominating Committee, O.C. Bar, 1990
Chainnan, Ad Hoc ABA Committee on Independent Counsel Statute, ( 1985-1987)
Chairman, Committee on White Collar Crime, Criminal Justice Section, American Bar
Association, ( 1982-1984)
EDUCATION
Columbia Law School, (1964-1967)
J.D., magna cum laude
Board of Editors, Columbia Law Review
Jerome Michael Trial Advocacy Award
Harlan Fiske Stone Scholar, (1966, 1967)
Johns Hopkins University, (1960-1964)
B.A. Phi Beta Kappa.
CIVIC ACTIVITIES
President, Council for Court Excellence (2015-present); Member, Board of Directors (2009-
present)
President, Frederick B. Abramson Foundation, (2004-2006); Board of Directors (2001-2006);
2015-present)
UDC Law School Foundation Board, (2008-2010)
Member. Board of Anti-Defamation League of D.C., (2009-2010)
Past Chair, Board of Trustees, National Capital Region, American Jewish Congress
HONORS
Woodrow Wilson Award for Distinguished Government Service, Johns Hopkins Unjversity
Alumni Association, 2013
Visionaries in the Law Award, National Law Journal, 2009
Best Lawyers in America (1989-2009) (each year)
TEACHING EXPERIENCE
Visiting Professor, Hebrew University, Jerusalem, Israel (Spring Semester, 2015)
Adjunct Professor, Georgetown University Law Center, ( 1995. l 996, 2009, 2010, 2014)
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Adjunct Professor, University of San Diego Law School, (1990-1991 )
Lecturer, Washington College of Law, American University Summer Institute on Law and
Government (June 20 I 0 )
SELECTED PUBLICATIONS
ABSCAM: A Fair and Effective Method for Fighting Public Corruption, Chapter, ABSCAM
Ethics, edited by Gerald M. Caplani (May 1983 );
Prosecuting a Civil Rico Case, Chapter, RICO: Civil and Criminal, Law and Strategy, edited by
Judge Jed Rak.off and Howard Goldstein, Law Journal Press (1989 );
Law Enforcement Against r ntemational Terrorists: Use of the RICO Statute, (with
Kenneth I. Juster), 60 U. Colo. L. Rev. 553 (1989 );
CotTUption Trials: The Pitfalls, The National Lai,,, Journal, 4/13/81;
Confronting the Evidence of Corruption, The National Law Journal, 4/20/81;
Proposed Amendments for RICO: Making a Criminal Law More Civil, The National Law
Journal, 8/31/81;
Civil RICO: A Primer on the Emerging Use and Abuse of an Elastic Treble Damage Remedy,
The Practical lawyer, Fall 1983;
Doubling the Treble Damage Remedy, 52 Antitrust Law Journal 327 (l983 );
Vigilant Precautions Needed After Bank Secrecy Crackdown, American Banker, 4/26/85;
Civil RlCO, (Part I), The Practical Lawyer, 12/1/83;
Civil RICO (Part II), The Practical Lawyer, 11/15/84;
RICO and the Search for Triple Damages, International Financial Law, July, 1985;
The Bank Secrecy Act, Review qf Financial Services Regulation, 4/9/86;
Practical Considerations Concerning Internal Corporate Investigations, Georgetown University
Law Center Federal Enforcement, 1987;
Strengthening the Independent Counsel Law Requires Judicial Review of the Attorney General’s
Decision (with David P. Gersch), 25 Am. Crim. L. Rev. 199 (Fall 1987);
Antitrust Precedents May Prove Useful in Many Civil RICO Cases, The Legal Times, 9/21/87;
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A Call for Congressional Action to Reform RICO, Civil RICO Report, 219/88; Minimizing
Liability for Bank Secrecy Act Reporting Violations, Bank Administration Institute, December
1988;
Restraint Urged in Government Response to Inflated GSE Bids, American Banker, I 0/31/91;
Holmes Court Advantage to Defendant, But Final Call for Congress, RICO Law Reporter, 4/92;
Fixing the Rule on Contacts with Represented Parties, Legal Times, 3/14/94;
Trial by Ambush, The New York Times, Op-Ed, 2/6/95;
Coordinated Criminal Jnvestigations Between the United States and Foreign Governments and
Their Implications for American Constitutional Rights (with Christopher D. Man), 42 Va. J. lnt’l
L. 821 (Spring 2002);
Department of Justice·s Ethical Words Are Not Yet Marked By Deed, Business Crimes Bulletin,
February 1995;
Search and Seizure of Law Offices: DOJ Guidelines Make 1t Easier, Business Crimes Bulletin,
January 1996;
Civil Remedies May Be Needed to Curb Prosecutorial Abuses, Business Crimes Bulletin,
February 1997;
Tough EEA Enforcement Reveals Need for Strict Compliance (with Nancy Perkins), Business
Crimes Bulletin; Compliance and Litigation, January 1998;
Shekels & Hyde: Little Money, Many Lessons from Hyde (with John Massaro); Business
Crimes Bulletin. 1999;
Congressional Reforms Needed for Improved Exercise of Prosecutorial Discretion, Business
Crimes Bulle/in, 2000;
Preventing Disclosure of Grand Jury Materials to Foreign Governments Pursuant to MLATs,
Business Crimes Bu!!etin, June 2001;
The USA Patriot Act of 2001 Poses a New Threat to Grand Jury Secrecy, Business Crimes
Bulle1in, February 2002;
FCPA Ruling Raises Serious Issues for Prosecutors, Counsel, Business Crimes Bulletin, .June
2002;
White-Collar Sentencing: A Loss of All Proportion, Business Crimes Bulletin, February 2003;
ls Bribing Foreign Tax Collectors a Federal Crime? Business Crimes Bullerin, Jtme 2004;
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Supreme Court Gives the Defense a Boost in Plea Bargaining, Business Crimes Bulletin, March
2005;
Multiple Jeopardy: ConcmTent State and Federal Prosecutions for the Same White-Collar
Offense. Business Crimes Bulletin, December 2005;
The Thompson Memo Ruling: Recent Decision May Have Little Effect on Other Cases, (with
Michael S. Lewis), Business Crimes Bulletin, October 2006;
Taking the Fifth in Congress, Business Crimes Bulletin, October 2010
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