Top Tier Litigators and Legal Strategists Lee Wolosky and Dawn Smalls Join Jenner & Block's New York and Washington, DC Offices

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Feb 03, 2020, 13:56 ET

NEW YORK, Feb. 3, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Jenner & Block is pleased to announce that former US Ambassador Lee S. Wolosky and Dawn L. Smalls, experienced litigators and crisis managers, have joined the firm as partners. Mr. Wolosky is based in New York and Washington, DC, and Ms. Smalls is based in New York.

Mr. Wolosky and Ms. Smalls bring significant experience in representing clients facing multi-dimensional crises involving litigation, the government and the media. They join the firm's Complex Commercial Litigation Practice and its Government Controversies and Public Policy Litigation Practice, headed by Partner Thomas J. Perrelli. They will also work closely with the firm's Monitorship Practice, led by Partner Neil M. Barofsky. Like Mr. Perrelli and Mr. Barofsky, they join the firm's long roster of lawyers with significant senior government experience.

"Jenner & Block is a litigation powerhouse. Lee and Dawn are cut from the same cloth, and their joining us enhances our ability to provide our clients with the highest levels of strategic thinking and excellent representation," said firm Chair Craig C. Martin.

"Lee and Dawn are well-known, highly respected lawyers and legal strategists who help clients resolve existential challenges, and their experience will enhance the firm's already substantial complex litigation, investigations and government controversies capabilities," said Katya Jestin and Randy Mehrberg, Jenner & Block's co-managing partners. "Importantly, they are aligned with the firm's strong culture, which is driven by our core values of excellence, collaboration, diversity and inclusion, and pro bono and public service."

Mr. Wolosky has extensive experience handling the highest-profile matters unfolding in the courts and before the government and media. He has led the representation of plaintiffs and defendants in multi-billion dollar litigation, including in complex multi-jurisdictional disputes. He currently serves as the Monitor of a tier-one global financial institution and represents a key witness in the ongoing impeachment proceedings of the President. He has led the prosecution of precedent-setting cases related to national security and foreign sovereign immunity. His clients have included prominent CEOs, political figures, governments and media leaders. He regularly represents clients in connection with governmental investigations and sanctions matters, including congressional and national security-related investigations. He has served in national security posts under three presidential administrations, including as President Barack Obama's Special Envoy for Guantánamo , in which capacity he led US diplomatic efforts to close the Guantánamo Bay detention facility. In 2016, President Obama accorded him the personal rank of Ambassador. Earlier, under Presidents Bill Clinton and George W. Bush, he served as Director of Transnational Threats on the National Security Council at the White House. Mr. Wolosky, a life member of the Council on Foreign Relations, graduated from Harvard Law School cum laude and from Harvard College magna cum laude.

In her practice, Ms. Smalls draws upon her experience in law, government and politics to provide strategic advice and legal counsel to clients on complex legal, policy and regulatory matters. She currently serves as the Monitor of a tier-one global financial institution. Previous representations include serving as co-lead counsel for one of the largest Fair Labor Standards Act class actions on record, representing more than 90,000 au pairs for wage fixing and violations of federal, state and minimum wage. Ms. Smalls has extensive experience in the federal government having served two Democratic Administrations, first as Assistant to the White House chief of Staff and then as Executive Secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services. From 2015 to 2018, she served as a commissioner of the New York State Joint Commission on Public Ethics. In that role, she provided oversight to the state agency tasked with ensuring that state elected officials and lobbyists comply with the state's ethics and lobbying laws and regulations. Ms. Smalls has also worked in philanthropy for the Open Society Foundations and the Ford Foundation, two of the largest philanthropies in the world, where she managed approximately $40 million of grants promoting civic engagement, political reform and grassroots activism. Ms. Smalls is actively engaged in politics, advising political candidates on the local, state and federal level, and was a candidate for New York City Public Advocate in the Special Election on February 26, 2019. Currently, she serves as a national board member of the American Constitution Society, the nation's leading progressive legal organization, with more than 200 student and lawyer chapters in almost every state, and the Roosevelt Institute, a think tank and campus network that serves as the nonprofit partner to the Franklin D. Roosevelt Presidential Library and Museum in Hyde Park, New York. Ms. Smalls received her JD from Stanford Law School and her BA magna cum laude from Boston University.

"I am thrilled to join Jenner & Block, a firm that values public service and pro bono as highly as the exceptional service that they provide to their clients," said Ms. Smalls.

"Having worked with and across from Jenner & Block lawyers, I am looking forward to joining a firm with such a highly regarded reputation for excellence in litigation, investigations and crisis management," said Mr. Wolosky. "I am excited to build upon the firm's international platform to offer high-stakes representation to clients around the world."

Before joining Jenner & Block, Mr. Wolosky and Ms. Smalls were partners with Boies Schiller Flexner LLP.

ABOUT JENNER & BLOCK'S GOVERNMENT CONTROVERSIES AND PUBLIC POLICY LITIGATION PRACTICE
Jenner & Block brings to bear lawyers who have extensive experience managing complex issues involving the highest levels of government and the firm's litigation and counseling prowess to turn a seemingly intractable crisis into a manageable problem with solutions in sight. The practice group focuses on advising companies, corporate executives and boards, and government institutions on the most controversial problems they may ever face at the intersection of law, law enforcement and government regulation. The practice group draws on Jenner & Block's strength and depth as a premier litigation firm and its internationally recognized white collar practice to provide a full suite of services to organizations facing multifaceted problems. This includes creating risk management strategies, conducting internal investigations, and advising on crisis management for businesses and organizations facing problems that draw the attention of the state and federal civil and criminal law enforcement authorities, government regulators, inspectors general, congressional committees, state legislators and the media.

ABOUT JENNER & BLOCK'S COMPLEX COMMERCIAL LITIGATION PRACTICE
Clients from around the world rely on Jenner & Block for their most complex and challenging business cases. With more than 375 skilled litigation lawyers, we have the depth, breadth and experience to handle the most complex and challenging disputes. We count among our ranks 12 Fellows of the prestigious American College of Trial Lawyers, the former acting Solicitor General of the United States, two former United States attorneys, 11 former assistant United States attorneys, a former Illinois Supreme Court chief justice, a former associate attorney general of the United States, more than three dozen lawyers recognized as "America's Leading Lawyers" by Chambers USA and numerous leaders of national, state and local bar associations. Our trial prowess in high-profile litigation is well known. The National Law Journal has described our litigators as "like the Army's special forces: highly trained and ready to deploy anywhere at any time." BTI Consulting has recognized us a "powerhouse in complex commercial litigation" and an "unparalleled leader in client service." Chambers Global legal directory has described Jenner & Block as a firm with "bedrock strength in trial work," while reporting that our clients "remain steadfast in their support, describing the group as 'absolutely outstanding.'"

ABOUT JENNER & BLOCK
Jenner & Block LLP is a law firm with global reach, with offices in Chicago, London, Los Angeles, New York and Washington, DC and more than 500 lawyers. The firm is known for its prominent and successful litigation practice and experience handling sophisticated and high-profile corporate transactions. Firm clients include Fortune 100 companies, large privately held corporations, financial services institutions, emerging companies and venture capital and private equity investors. In 2019, The American Lawyer recognized the firm as the #1 pro bono firm in the United States for the ninth time in 12 years; the firm has been ranked among the top 10 in this category every year since 1990. In 2019, the publication also recognized the firm as the #3 international pro bono firm, and in 2018, named the firm as its first "Pro Bono Champion." http://www.jenner.com

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