Boyd M. Johnson III

Boyd M. Johnson III is the Co-Chair of WilmerHale’s Investigations and Criminal Litigation Practice Group. He has 20 years of experience as a skilled litigator and trial attorney. Mr. Johnson joined the firm in 2011, following a 13-year career with the US Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York, where he served as the Deputy US Attorney and supervised more than 200 Assistant US Attorneys. Chambers USA recognizes him as a leading attorney in New York in White-Collar Crime and Government Investigations in its 2013-2015 editions. Mr. Johnson represents corporations and their executives in criminal and civil investigations conducted by the US Department of Justice, the US Securities and Exchange Commission, the New York Attorney General’s Office, the New York County District Attorney's Office and the UK’s Financial Conduct Authority. He conducts internal investigations for companies, and advises business organizations on crisis response and media relations. Mr. Johnson's experience includes insider trading and financial fraud investigations, Foreign Corrupt Practices Act and public corruption probes, antitrust inquiries, anti-money laundering and Bank Secrecy Act issues, False Claims Act and FIRREA actions, and cybersecurity and data breach matters. As Deputy US Attorney for the SDNY, Mr. Johnson managed the largest crackdown on Wall Street insider trading in history; the criminal prosecutions and civil forfeiture proceedings related to the Bernard Madoff fraud; the investigation and prosecution of individuals and entities responsible for structuring and promoting international tax shelters; and numerous FCPA, money laundering and cybersecurity matters. Mr. Johnson also participated in the creation of the SDNY’s Civil Frauds Unit in March 2010, and oversaw that Unit’s civil fraud actions in the financial services and healthcare sectors. Before becoming Deputy US Attorney, Mr. Johnson served as Chief of the SDNY’s Public Corruption Unit. In that capacity, he supervised bribery and embezzlement prosecutions of members of the US Congress, New York State legislators and New York City council members, as well as corruption investigations at the United Nations. While at the SDNY, Mr. Johnson also served as the Chief of the International Narcotics Trafficking Unit, focusing on the extradition of drug kingpins and the identification of global money laundering networks. In that role, he worked with the Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control to build prosecutions against the leaders of the Cali Cartel and the Taliban based on violations of the International Emergency Economic Powers Act. Mr. Johnson was a recipient of the Attorney General’s Award, the US Department of Justice’s highest honor. Mr. Johnson is frequently invited to speak on issues related to corporate criminal liability, financial fraud and insider trading, the FCPA, anti-bribery and corruption, money laundering and cybersecurity. Education JD, cum laude, Cornell University Law School, 1992, Editor, Cornell International Law Journal BA, English and Government, magna cum laude, Hamilton College, 1989 Bar Admissions New York Connecticut Clerkships The Hon. Laughlin Waters, US District Court for the Central District of California, 1992 - 1993