Lanny Breuer

Lanny A. Breuer is Covington and Burling’s Vice Chair and one of the leading trial and white collar defense attorneys in the United States. He specializes in helping clients navigate corporate crises, anti-corruption matters, money laundering investigations, cybercrime incidents, Congressional investigations, and other criminal and civil matters presenting complex regulatory, political, and public relations risks. Mr. Breuer served from 2009-2013 as Assistant Attorney General for the Criminal Division at the U.S. Department of Justice. As one of the longest-serving Criminal Division chiefs in history, Mr. Breuer oversaw nearly 600 lawyers at the center of federal criminal prosecution, policy, and legislation in the United States. In his role as Assistant Attorney General, Mr. Breuer was widely recognized as a national leader on a range of federal law enforcement priorities, including the U.S. Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, health care fraud, money laundering, financial fraud, cybercrime, intellectual property theft, and public corruption. While at the Justice Department, Mr. Breuer spearheaded the publication of the Resource Guide to the U.S. Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, which stands as the definitive guidance document from the United States Government regarding its enforcement of the FCPA. Mr. Breuer also oversaw numerous prosecutions that set new benchmarks across a host of enforcement areas, including anti-corruption, money laundering, health care fraud, and cybercrime. For his work in the Criminal Division, Mr. Breuer ranked sixth on Ethisphere’s list of the 100 Most Influential People in Business Ethics internationally and was recently named by the National Law Journal as one of the 100 Most Influential Lawyers in the United States. Prior to his service at the Justice Department, Mr. Breuer co-chaired the firm’s White Collar Defense and Investigations Practice Group. Over nearly 20 years in private practice, Mr. Breuer maintained a wide-ranging practice that included white collar criminal and complex civil litigation, internal corporate investigations, congressional investigations, and antitrust cartel proceedings.