The global law firm Jones Day has announced that David Morrell, who previously served in senior roles at the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) and the White House, has returned to Jones Day as a partner in its Government Regulation Practice. He will be based in Washington, D.C.
Mr. Morrell entered the White House Counsel’s office in 2017, where he served as Special Assistant and Associate Counsel to the President. In this role, Mr. Morrell advised senior White House staff and Cabinet officials on a wide range of legal issues relating to the Administration’s trade and manufacturing policy. In 2019, Mr. Morrell joined DOJ as a Deputy Assistant Attorney General, where he led the DOJ’s Consumer Protection Branch, which comprises approximately 170 attorneys, investigators, and other staff responsible for enforcing federal consumer protection statutes throughout the United States. Under his leadership, DOJ’s Consumer Protection Branch concluded an online privacy matter resulting in one of the largest civil penalties ever obtained by the federal government and advanced civil and criminal investigations under a range of consumer protection laws, including the Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act (FDCA) and the Controlled Substances Act (CSA). In 2020, Mr. Morrell became Deputy Assistant Attorney General of DOJ’s Federal Programs Branch, where he supervised nearly 110 attorneys charged with representing the executive branch in the most significant civil litigation matters facing the U.S. Government in federal district courts throughout the country.
Mr. Morrell returns to Jones Day, where he started his career in 2013 and worked for over three years as an associate in the Issues & Appeals Practice. As a partner in the Government Regulation Practice, he will counsel Jones Day clients on international trade, national security, and consumer protection and health care-related investigations and litigation.
“David’s robust experience at both the White House and the Department of Justice provides him with a exceptional level of insight into complex regulatory issues,” said Don McGahn, former White House Counsel, who co-leads Jones Day’s Government Regulation Practice. “He is regarded as an excellent lawyer with deep knowledge of the regulatory challenges our clients are likely to confront in the years ahead and we are pleased that he has returned to our team at Jones Day.”
Before joining Jones Day in 2013, Mr. Morrell clerked on the U.S. Supreme Court for Justice Clarence Thomas and on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit for Judge Edith H. Jones.
“After making important contributions at the Department of Justice, we are delighted that David has chosen to return to private practice here at Jones Day,” said Noel Francisco, former U.S. Solicitor General and Partner-in-Charge of Jones Day’s Washington Office. “He is a skilled lawyer with a reputation for integrity and the highest professionalism, and I know that our clients worldwide will benefit from his wise counsel. We are pleased to have him join our team here in Washington and look forward to working alongside him.”
Mr. Morrell graduated from Yale Law School, where he was editor of the Yale Law Journal, and earned his undergraduate degree from Hillsdale College in Michigan, where he graduated summa cum laude.
