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Lanny A. Breuer
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Lanny A. Breuer
Lanny Arthur Breuer (born August 5, 1958) is an American criminal defense lawyer who currently serves as vice chair of Covington & Burling LLP. From 2009 to 2013, he served as Assistant Attorney General for the Criminal Division of the U.S. Department of Justice under President Barack Obama. From 1997 to 1999, he served as Special Counsel to President Bill Clinton. He is a fellow of the American College of Trial Lawyers.
Breuer grew up in Elmhurst, Queens, where he attended Newtown High School. Breuer's parents were both Holocaust refugees; his father from Austria and his mother from Germany. His mother's parents were both murdered in the Holocaust. Breuer's father, a journalist in Vienna, came to America after fleeing to England. In the United States, Breuer's father was the music editor of Aufbau, a German language newspaper in New York. Breuer graduated from Columbia College in 1980, and Columbia Law School in 1985. He currently serves as Chair of the Columbia Alumni Association.
After graduating from Columbia Law School, Breuer was an assistant district attorney in Manhattan from 1985 to 1989. Asked how his mother reacted to his decision to become a junior D.A. after an expensive Columbia education, he recalled:
My parents just never made any money at all. I called up my mother to break the news that her son was not going to a law firm: "Mom, you've just got to remember that Cy Vance Jr. - who, of course, is now the D.A. — he's in the D.A.'s office. And Dan Rather Jr., he's in the D.A.'s office. And Andrew Cuomo, the son of the governor, he's in the D.A.'s office." There was a long pause. And my mother said: "Them? They should go to the D.A.'s office. You? You should go to a firm."
In fact, some 20 years later, his former boss, the legendary Manhattan D.A. Robert Morgenthau, would still remember Breuer as "a poor Jewish kid from Queens."
As an assistant district attorney, he prosecuted violent crime, such as armed robbery and gang violence, white collar crime, and other offenses.
From 1989 until 1997, Breuer practiced law with the law firm of Covington & Burling LLP in Washington, D.C. In this period, he represented U.S. Marine Sergeant Justin Elzie, one of the first U.S. service members to challenge his dismissal from the military for revealing that he was gay. He also received attention for defending Corey Moore in a first-degree murder trial.
In 1997, Breuer joined the White House Counsel's Office as special counsel to President Bill Clinton, working under counsel to the president Charles F.C. Ruff. As special counsel, Breuer defended the White House and President Clinton in the congressional and Justice Department investigations of the Clinton campaign's fundraising.
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Lanny A. Breuer
Lanny Arthur Breuer (born August 5, 1958) is an American criminal defense lawyer who currently serves as vice chair of Covington & Burling LLP. From 2009 to 2013, he served as Assistant Attorney General for the Criminal Division of the U.S. Department of Justice under President Barack Obama. From 1997 to 1999, he served as Special Counsel to President Bill Clinton. He is a fellow of the American College of Trial Lawyers.
Breuer grew up in Elmhurst, Queens, where he attended Newtown High School. Breuer's parents were both Holocaust refugees; his father from Austria and his mother from Germany. His mother's parents were both murdered in the Holocaust. Breuer's father, a journalist in Vienna, came to America after fleeing to England. In the United States, Breuer's father was the music editor of Aufbau, a German language newspaper in New York. Breuer graduated from Columbia College in 1980, and Columbia Law School in 1985. He currently serves as Chair of the Columbia Alumni Association.
After graduating from Columbia Law School, Breuer was an assistant district attorney in Manhattan from 1985 to 1989. Asked how his mother reacted to his decision to become a junior D.A. after an expensive Columbia education, he recalled:
My parents just never made any money at all. I called up my mother to break the news that her son was not going to a law firm: "Mom, you've just got to remember that Cy Vance Jr. - who, of course, is now the D.A. — he's in the D.A.'s office. And Dan Rather Jr., he's in the D.A.'s office. And Andrew Cuomo, the son of the governor, he's in the D.A.'s office." There was a long pause. And my mother said: "Them? They should go to the D.A.'s office. You? You should go to a firm."
In fact, some 20 years later, his former boss, the legendary Manhattan D.A. Robert Morgenthau, would still remember Breuer as "a poor Jewish kid from Queens."
As an assistant district attorney, he prosecuted violent crime, such as armed robbery and gang violence, white collar crime, and other offenses.
From 1989 until 1997, Breuer practiced law with the law firm of Covington & Burling LLP in Washington, D.C. In this period, he represented U.S. Marine Sergeant Justin Elzie, one of the first U.S. service members to challenge his dismissal from the military for revealing that he was gay. He also received attention for defending Corey Moore in a first-degree murder trial.
In 1997, Breuer joined the White House Counsel's Office as special counsel to President Bill Clinton, working under counsel to the president Charles F.C. Ruff. As special counsel, Breuer defended the White House and President Clinton in the congressional and Justice Department investigations of the Clinton campaign's fundraising.
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