Current Employment Position(s)

Partner

Lawyer Overview

John M. Dowd heads the firm's criminal litigation group. Mr. Dowd has prosecuted and defended significant criminal matters at trial and in parallel proceedings before Congress and regulatory agencies for more than 30 years. His practice focuses on the trial of complex civil and criminal cases.

Mr. Dowd is noted for his representation of a U.S. district judge, a former U.S. attorney and two U.S. senators. In addition, he represented a U.S. governor in a lengthy, high-profile criminal trial involving 23 counts charging false statements, wire fraud and attempted extortion.

Mr. Dowd has represented a U.S. senator before the Department of Justice and the Senate Ethics Committee; a U.S. Army colonel in the Iran-Contra hearings; a U.S. senator before the Senate Ethics Committee; and a U.S. governor in litigation with the Resolution Trust Corporation and in a fact-finding hearing before the House Subcommittee on General Oversight and Investigations, Committee on Banking, Finance and Urban Affairs, which inquired into the failure of the savings and loan industry. He has served as an arbitrator for the International Court of Arbitration of the International Chamber of Commerce in Paris.

Mr. Dowd has also served as special counsel to three commissioners of Major League Baseball in the investigations of Pete Rose, a team owner and others.

Before entering private practice, Mr. Dowd was a trial attorney in the Tax Division of the U.S. Department of Justice and chief of the Organized Crime Strike Force in the Criminal Division. He tried the first prosecution of the federal RICO statute in United States v. Parness. At the request of the attorney general, he also supervised an internal investigation of the FBI and the investigation of Congressman Daniel Flood of Pennsylvania.

Mr. Dowd received his A.B. cum laude from St. Bernard College in 1963 and his J.D. from Emory University in 1965. He was a captain in the U.S. Marine Corps and a member of the Judge Advocate General Corps. He is a member of the District of Columbia Bar and the American Bar Association. He serves as a member of the board of trustees of Flint Hill School.

Mr. Dowd is listed in Who's Who in America and has been recognized for more than 10 years in The Best Lawyers in America. He was honored by Emory Law as one of three recipients of the 2008 Emory Law Distinguished Alumni Award, which recognizes outstanding alumni "who achieve distinction in legal practice, teaching, research, or public administration, and who demonstrate distinguished service to Emory University." In 2009 he was appointed to Emory Law's Advisory Board, which aids and supports the dean, faculty and staff in strategic planning, policy formulation and resource development.

Areas of Practice

• White Collar Criminal Defense
• Commercial Litigation
• Corporate Governance

West Practice Categories

Antitrust Law, Business & Commercial Law, Corporate Governance, White Collar Crimes, Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) -- Employee, Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) -- Employer, Energy Law, Government Contracts, Health & Health Care Law, International Arbitration, Litigation & Appeals, Class Actions, US Supreme Court, Products Liability Law, Taxation Law

Bar Admissions

• District of Columbia, 1967
• U.S. Court of Appeals District of Columbia Circuit, 1967
• U.S. Court of Appeals 4th Circuit, 1967
• U.S. Court of Appeals 5th Circuit, 1967
• U.S. Court of Appeals 10th Circuit, 1967
• U.S. Court of Appeals 11th Circuit, 1967
• U.S. District Court of the District of Columbia, 1967
• U.S. District Court Southern District of Georgia, 1988
• U.S. Supreme Court, 1970
• U.S. Court of International Trade, 1967
• U.S. Court of Appeals 3rd Circuit
• U.S. Court of Appeals 8th Circuit

Professional Associations and Memberships

• American Bar Association (Member)
• Judge Advocate General Corps (Member)
• Board of Trustees, Flint Hill School (Member)

Honors and Awards

• Fellow, The Fellows of Young Lawyers of the American Bar
• Master, Edward Bennett Williams Inn of Court, 1989 - Present
• Listed in Who's Who in America
• Recognized for more than 10 Years in The Best Lawyers in America

Classes and Seminars

• Lecturer, National Institute for Trial Advocacy, Georgetown University, 1979 - 1981
• Lecturer, Continuing Legal Education, Georgetown University Law Center, 1987 - 1988

Past Employment Positions

• Commissioner of Major League Baseball, Special Counsel, 1989 - 1990
• United States Department of Justice, Organized Crime Strike Force, Chief, 1974 - 1978
• United States Department of Justice, Organized Crime and Racketeering Section, Criminal Division, Prosecutor, 1973 - 1974
• United States Department of Justice, Tax Division, Trial Attorney, 1969 - 1972
• United State Marine Corps, Judge Advocate, Captain, 1965 - 1969

Education

• Emory University School of Law, Atlanta, Georgia, 1966
  J.D.
• St. Bernards College, St Bernard, Alabama, 1963
  A.B.
  Honors: cum laude

Published Works

• "U.S. Laundering, Forfeiture Laws Now Reach All Points on Globe,", September, 2002

Address

Robert S. Strauss Building
1333 New Hampshire Avenue, North West
Washington, DC 20036-1564

Phones

(202) 887-4386

Faxes

(202) 887-4288

Emails

Contact Us

Websites

http://www.akingump.com