Larry D Thompson

Larry D. Thompson has served on the University of Georgia School of Law’s faculty as the holder of the John A. Sibley Chair of Corporate and Business Law since 2011, noting he was on a leave of absence from June 2012 through 2014. He is presently a member of the Faculty Division of the law school's Dean Rusk International Law Center Council. Thompson, who joined Finch McCranie, LLP as Counsel in July 2015, is the former U.S. Deputy Attorney General (2001-2003), the second highest ranking position in the U.S. Department of Justice. In a distinguished public and private sector career over more than three decades, Mr. Thompson also has prosecuted complex cases as U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Georgia, directed internal investigations and defended individuals and businesses in special matters as a partner in a major law firm, and served as General Counsel and Senior Vice President of PepsiCo, Inc. During his tenure as Deputy Attorney General, Mr. Thompson led the Department of Justice’s National Security Coordination Council, as well as the government-wide Corporate Fraud Task Force. In 2000, Congress selected Mr. Thompson to chair the bi-partisan Judicial Review Commission on Foreign Asset Control. In 2004, he served as a Senior Fellow with the Brookings Institution in Washington, D.C. Prior to serving as U.S. Deputy Attorney General, Mr. Thompson was a partner with the Atlanta-based law firm of King & Spalding, LLP, and was co-founder of the firm’s special matters and government investigations practice. He previously served as U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Georgia from 1982 to 1986. From 1995 to 1998, he served as Independent Counsel for the Department of Housing and Urban Development Investigation. Most recently, Mr. Thompson served as Senior Vice President for Government Affairs and General Counsel for PepsiCo. He also served as the John A. Sibley Professor of Corporate and Business Law at the University of Georgia, a position he will continue while with Finch McCranie. A native of Hannibal, Missouri, Mr. Thompson earned his Bachelor of Arts degree at Culver-Stockton College in Canton, Missouri, his Master’s degree at Michigan State University and his law degree at the University of Michigan. He has received numerous awards for his professional achievements, including the Edmund Jennings Randolph Award for outstanding contributions to the accomplishment of the Department of Justice’s mission, the Outstanding Litigator Award from the Federal Bar Association and an Honorary Doctor of Laws degree from Pace University in New York. He has also been recognized by Atlanta’s Gate City Bar Association as a member of its Hall of Fame.