As Executive Vice President and General Counsel, Wilkinson will serve as principal legal counsel to the company's Board of Directors and senior executives, and will set Fannie Mae's legal agenda, address critical legal issues and have oversight and management responsibility for all legal strategies, services and resources. She will report to the chief executive officer and serve as corporate secretary to the Board of Directors. Wilkinson joins Fannie Mae from Latham & Watkins, LLP, where she is a partner and represented a variety of Fortune 500 companies, including General Electric, Ford Motor Company and the health care company HCA, regarding complex business disputes, investigations and litigation. Prior to her tenure at Latham & Watkins, LLP, Wilkinson was the special attorney to the U.S. Attorney General serving as a prosecutor in the U.S. v. McVeigh and Nichols cases. For that she received the U.S. Attorney General's highest commendation the Exceptional Service Award for a second time, making her the only two-time recipient in history. She also has served as the Principal Deputy in the Terrorism & Violent Crime Section of the U.S. Department of Justice, Criminal Division. Before then Wilkinson was counsel to the Deputy Attorney General in U.S. Attorney General's office in Washington, D.C.; Assistant U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of New York; and Special Assistant, U.S. Attorney (U.S. v. Noriega) for the Southern District of Florida (Miami, FL); and Assistant to the General Counsel for Intelligence and Special Operations, Department of the Army, General Counsel's Office. Wilkinson received her J.D. from The University of Virginia and her bachelor of arts degree from Princeton University.
