JOHN MAGUIRE DOWD
Home Address
Business Address
Born
Education
31 Hardings Lane
Chatham, MA 02633
Telephone No. (703) 759-4793
Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld LLP
Robert S. Strauss Building
1333 New Hampshire Avenue, N.W.
Washington, D.C. 20036
Telephone No. (202) 887-4386
Facsimile No.: (202) 833-2292
E-mail: jdowd@akingump.com
November 2, 1941
Brockton, MA
Public Schools – Canton, Massachusetts
McLean High School, McLean, Va., 1959
St. Bernard College, Cullman, Alabama,
A.B., cum laude, 1963
Emory University Law School
Atlanta, Georgia, J.D., 1965
Family Five children, eleven grandchildren
Military Service Captain, United States Marine Corps,
1966 – 1969
Practice & Background
Mr. Dowd has represented a U.S. senator before the Department of Justice and the
Senate Ethics Committee; a U.S. Army colonel in the Iran-Contra hearings; a U.S. senator
before the Senate Ethics Committee; and a U.S. governor in litigation with the Resolution
Trust Corporation and in a fact-finding hearing before the House Subcommittee on
General Oversight and Investigations, Committee on Banking, Finance and Urban Affairs,
which inquired into the failure of the savings and loan industry.
Mr. Dowd is noted for his successful representation of the President of the United States;a
U.S. district judge, a former U.S. attorney, two U.S. senators and a senior member of the
U.S. House of Representatives. In addition, he successfully represented the governor of
Arizona in a lengthy, high-profile criminal trial. He won the exoneration of the head of
exploration and production of a major oil company before the SEC, DOJ and FSA in
London. He successfully represented the chairman and CEO of a major soft drink
company before the SEC and DOJ. He represented the owner of a hedge fund in the
largest insider trading case in history in a lengthy, high-profile criminal trial.2
Mr. Dowd has also served as special counsel to three commissioners of Major League
Baseball in the investigations of Pete Rose, a team owner and others. Mr. Dowd’s
extensive report on Pete Rose can be found at www.thedowdreport.com.
Before entering private practice, Mr. Dowd was a trial attorney in the Tax Division of the
U.S. Department of Justice and chief of an Organized Crime Strike Force in the Criminal
Division. He tried the first prosecution of the federal RICO statute in United States v.
Parness. At the request of the attorney general, he also supervised an internal
investigation of the FBI and the investigation of U.S. Rep. Daniel Flood of Pennsylvania.
Mr. Dowd received his A.B. cum laude from St. Bernard College in 1963 and his J.D. from
Emory University in 1965. He was a captain in the U.S. Marine Corps and a member of the
Judge Advocate General Corps. He is a member of the District of Columbia Bar and the
American Bar Association. He served as an emeritus member of the board of trustees of
Flint Hill School. He serves an emeritus member on the board of directors of the Injured
Marine Semper Fi Fund. He is a Barrister in the Edward Bennett Williams Inn of Court.
Mr. Dowd is listed in Who’s Who in America and has been recognized for more than 20
years in The Best Lawyers in America. Mr. Dowd was honored by the United States
Marine Corps at the Evening Parade at the Marine Barracks Washington, D.C., Evening
Parade on June 18, 2010, for his many contributions to the Marine Corps.
He was honored by Emory School of Law as one of three recipients of the 2008 Emory
Law Distinguished Alumni Award, which recognizes outstanding alumni “who achieve
distinction in legal practice, teaching, research, or public administration, and who
demonstrate distinguished service to Emory University.” In 2009 he was appointed to
Emory School of Law’s Advisory Board, which aids and supports the dean, faculty and
staff in strategic planning, policy formulation and resource development.
He is a member of the Board of Business Executives for National Security.
Community Involvement
Mr. Dowd is involved in community, civic and charitable activities that include service as:
• a captain in the U.S. Marine Corps
• a member of Emory School of Law’s advisory board
• an emeritus member of the board of trustees of Flint Hill School
• an emeritus member of the board of directors of the Injured Marine Semper Fi Fund
• pro bono counsel to the U.S. Marine Corps Heritage Foundation
• a member of the kitchen Cabinet for the Commandant of the U.S. Marine Corps
• pro bono counsel to St. Peter’s Indian Mission School, Bapchule, AZ3
• a member of Barrister-Edward Bennet Williams Inn of Court.
• At the request of the Secretary of the Navy ,he served on an executive committee
to review and reform the legal communities of the United States Navy and Marine
Corps
Speaking Engagements
• Fordham University Law School’s NACDL’s 8th Annual Defending the White Collar
Case Seminar, Wall Street on Trial: Where Allegations of Greed and Dishonesty
Meet the Criminal Code, New York, NY, November 16, 2012
• Columbia Law School Symposium, Recent Developments in Insider Trading Law
and Enforcement, New York, NY, November 16, 2012
• Emory University School of Law Kessler-Eidson Program for Trial Techniques,
Atlanta, GA, May 10, 2012
• ABA White Collar Crime Meeting, Recent Trials, Miami, FL, March 1, 2012
• ABA Securities Fraud Section Meeting, Insider Trading: When Does Corporate
“Edge” Become Corporate Espionage?, New Orleans, LA, November 3, 2011.
Awards & Accolades
• Recognized by Washingtonian magazine as a top lawyer in the category of criminal
defense, white collar (2013)
• Super Lawyers (2007-2013)
• Best Lawyers in America (1989-2014) for criminal defense: white-collar.
• Pro Bono Team of the Year-Akin Gump 2011-
• Akin Gump Pro Bono & Public Service Hall of Fame -2011
• Received the highest civilian award for superior from the Secretary of the Navy-
December 2019
Bar Admissions United States District Court for
the District of Columbia – 1967
Certified as a Judge Advocate
United States Marine Corps – 1967
United States Court of
International Trade – 1984
United States Court of Appeals
for the District of Columbia
Circuit – 1967; Fourth Circuit,
Fifth Circuit, Sixth Circuit,
Eighth Circuit, Tenth Circuit, Federal Circuit4
United States Supreme Court – 1970
Legal Experience UNITED STATES MARINE CORPS
December 1966 – May 1969
Staff Legal Office
2nd Marine Division FMF
Camp Lejeune, North Carolina
Preparation and prosecution of Special Courts-Martial
trials. Defense Attorney-General and Special Courts-
Martial trials.
Congressional and Special Interest Officer for
Commanding General 2nd Marine Division, Camp
Lejeune, North Carolina; Review Officer for General
and Special Courts Martial; Assistant Staff Legal
Officer.
Assigned by Commanding General to investigate racial
problems in 2nd Marine Division, Fleet Marine Force,
Atlantic.
UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE
June 1969 – October 1972
GENERAL LITIGATION SECTION/
TAX DIVISION
Trial Attorney in United States District Courts and State
Courts in the Southeastern, Southwestern and
Northwestern regions of the United States.
October 1972 – September 1978
Attorney-in-Charge
STRIKE FORCE 18
ORGANIZED CRIME AND RACKETEERING
SECTION/CRIMINAL DIVISION
Special Trial Attorney in special strike force engaged in
the investigation and prosecution of the economic and
financial activities of organized crime including the
infiltration of legitimate economic enterprises and public
corruption.
November 1973 – June 1974
Acting Attorney-in-Charge
Strike Force 185
June 1974 – September 1978
Attorney-in-Charge
Strike Force 18
Top Secret Clearance
Tried the first RICO cases. Reviewed all RICO
prosecutions.
January 1976 – January 1977
Appointment by Attorney General Levi to conduct
internal investigation of the Federal Bureau of
Investigation.
November 1977 – September 1978
Conducted Investigation of Honorable Daniel Flood (D.-
PA) for Attorney General Griffin B. Bell.
October 1978 – May 31, 1984
Partner, Whitman & Ransom
June 1, 1984 – January 26, 1990
Partner, Heron, Burchette, Ruckert & Rothwell
December 1986 – November 1989
Counsel to Colonel Robert C. Dutton before the Joint
House and Senate Select Committee to Investigate
Covert Arms Transactions with Iran and Contra Rebels
February 1989 – October 1991
Special Counsel, Commissioner, Major League
Baseball. Conducted investigations of Pete Rose,
George Steinbrenner, Len Dykstra, Don Zimmer and
two umpires for Commissioners Ueberroth, Giamatti
and Vincent
July 1989 – February 1990
Trustee, Dalkon Shield Claimants Trust
December 1989 – March 1991
Counsel to The Honorable John S. McCain before the
Senate Select Committee on Ethics6
June 2017-March 2018
Represented President Donald J. Trump before the
Office of Special Counsel, United States Department of
Justice
January 29, 1990 – Present
Partner
Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld LLP
Trial Experience PROSECUTIONS
U.S. Department of Justice, Criminal Division (Jury
Trials)
U.S. v. Meyer Lansky, Southern District of Florida (tax
fraud)
U.S. v. Parness, 503 Fed. 2d 430 (2nd Cir. 1974), cert.
denied, 419 U.S. 1105 (1975) (RICO prosecution)
U.S. v. Regan, (E.D. Va.) (corruption RICO trial)
U.S. v. Calabrese, (E.D. Va.) (corruption RICO trial)
U.S. v. Calabrese, (E.D. Va.) (perjury)
Private Practice
U.S. v. Bagby Electric Company, (D. Md.), antitrust
case, 1986, acquittal
U.S. v. Dale E. Duncan, (E.D. Va.), false claim, split
verdict, major counts acquittal, conviction reversed,
816, Fed. 153 (4th Cir., 1987)
U.S. v. Wadino, (E.D. Va.), March 1979, Criminal No.
79-14-A Anti-Racketeering -Jury Trial
U.S. v. Daniel Kavanaugh and Metropolitan
Enterprises, (W.D. Okla.), Case No. Cr-82-167-R,
November 1983 – Antitrust – Jury Trial
U.S. v. V. DeVoe Heaton, (Crim. No. 81-107 RDF)
(USCD D. Nev.) – Fraud – Dismissal on pretrial motion.
Commonwealth of Virginia v. Diane E. Kidwell, Circuit
court of Rappahannock County, Va.) No. 634, 635 –
Two Jury Trials March 1983, September 1983 – First
Degree Murder – Acquittal
Investigation of Honorable Howard W. Cannon (N.D.
Ill.) GJ 80-GJ-265 (No indictment)7
Investigation of Honorable Avant Edenfield (U.S.
District Judge, S.D. Ga.) (No indictment)
Senate Ethics Committee Investigation of Honorable
John S. McCain – no charge
Criminal Investigation, Civil Action and Congressional
Hearing involving the Honorable J. Fife Symington,
Governor, State of Arizona
United States v. Asher Schapiro (E.D. Mich.) 16 count
fraud and bribery case – Acquittal on all counts – March
1993
United States v. Symington 1997 (D. Arizona) 16 week
jury trial. Conviction on six of twenty-three counts.
Reversed by U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit.
Pardoned by President Clinton.
United States v. Tri State 1998 U.S. Court of
International Trade – 3 Count – 9 million penalty case –
jury trial – no liability on all counts.
United States v. Rajaratnam 2009-2012 (SDNY) 14
week jury trial largest insider trading case in history.
Conviction on appeal, petition for Certiorari pending in
U.S. Supreme Court
United States v Captain James V. Clement, USMC-
2012-2014
Special Court Martial charges dismissed. Board of
Inquiry found no moral or professional misconduct and
recommended Honorable Discharge.