Davis Polk & Wardwell LLP today announces that Neil MacBride, former U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia (“EDVA”), is joining the firm as a partner in its Washington DC office. Mr. MacBride served as U.S. Attorney for the EDVA from 2009 to 2013.
Before his appointment as U.S. Attorney, Mr. MacBride served as Associate Deputy Attorney General at the Department of Justice in 2009. He also served as Chief Counsel and Staff Director for then-Senator Joseph R. Biden, Jr. from 2001 to 2005 on the Senate Judiciary Committee. From 1997 to 2001, Mr. MacBride served as an assistant U.S. Attorney in the District of Columbia. During his time as an assistant U.S. Attorney and as U.S. Attorney for EDVA, he conducted more than 25 jury trials.
Mr. MacBride’s wide-ranging government and trial experience adds further depth and strength to one of the premier white collar criminal defense and government investigations groups in the world.
“We are delighted to welcome Neil MacBride to the partnership for numerous reasons, among the most important of which are his intellect, judgment and integrity,” said Thomas J. Reid, Davis Polk’s Managing Partner. “Neil is a superb addition to our global enforcement team and his experience will be invaluable in offering the critical and decisive advice in New York and DC that great companies have always called upon us to provide.”
Neil MacBride said, “Davis Polk is one of the world’s great law firms, and one of the few remaining true and lockstep partnerships. Its white collar and government investigations practice has long been one of the most respected in the world. I am thrilled to be joining Davis Polk and developing the firm’s increasingly important presence in the nation’s capital and I look forward to working with my new partners in advising our clients on their most difficult criminal, congressional and regulatory problems. ”
Mr. MacBride’s tenure as U.S. Attorney for the EDVA was universally regarded as extremely successful. He led the office in bringing cases of national and international significance, involving financial fraud, international corruption, copyright infringement and trade secret theft, defense procurement fraud, money laundering, terrorism and cybersecurity. Some of the most significant matters during his tenure involved the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, the Securities Act of 1933, the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, the Wire and Mail Fraud statutes, the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act, the Electronic Communications Privacy Act, the Arms Export Control Act, the False Claims Act and the Federal Tort Claims Act.
Mr. MacBride also served as General Counsel of the Business Software Alliance, an international trade association for the hardware and software industry.
Mr. MacBride joins several other former government officials in Davis Polk’s Washington office, including former Chairman of the Federal Trade Commission Jon Leibowitz, former Deputy Director and Chief Counsel of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission’s Division of Trading and Markets Susan Ervin, former SEC Commissioner Annette Nazareth, former State Department official John Reynolds III, former FTC General Counsel Michael Sohn, former SEC Enforcement Director Linda Chatman Thomsen, and former White House Staff Secretary and Assistant to the President Raul Yanes.
