John Staige Davis, V

John S. Davis is a member of the Litigation Section and serves as co-chair of the White Collar and Investigations Team, co-chair of the Whistleblower Defense Team and also practices with the firm’s Appellate Team.

Mr. Davis is a former Assistant U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia who served more than 20 years with the U.S. Department of Justice before joining Williams Mullen. During his federal career Mr. Davis worked in a variety of capacities, including as Criminal Chief in the Northern District of Georgia (Atlanta), Criminal Chief in the Eastern District of Virginia, and Associate Deputy Attorney General under James B. Comey at the Justice Department. He served as the Senior Privacy Official in the Department of Justice; a member of the Advisory Committee on the Federal Rules of Evidence; and Chairman of DOJ’s Criminal Chiefs’ Working Group. He was also an Adjunct Assistant Professor of Law at the University of Richmond’s T.C. Williams School of Law.

John S. Davis is a member of the Litigation Section and serves as co-chair of the White Collar and Investigations Team, co-chair of the Whistleblower Defense Team and also practices with the firm’s Appellate Team.

Mr. Davis is a former Assistant U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia who served more than 20 years with the U.S. Department of Justice before joining Williams Mullen. During his federal career Mr. Davis worked in a variety of capacities, including as Criminal Chief in the Northern District of Georgia (Atlanta), Criminal Chief in the Eastern District of Virginia, and Associate Deputy Attorney General under James B. Comey at the Justice Department. He served as the Senior Privacy Official in the Department of Justice; a member of the Advisory Committee on the Federal Rules of Evidence; and Chairman of DOJ’s Criminal Chiefs’ Working Group. He was also an Adjunct Assistant Professor of Law at the University of Richmond’s T.C. Williams School of Law.

Mr. Davis’s experience includes the prosecution of a wide variety of criminal cases, including mail and wire fraud, procurement fraud, trademark and copyright infringement, Medicaid fraud, securities fraud, and environmental crimes cases, among many others. He is well-known for his work in high-profile national security cases, including the indictment (in the Southern District of New York) of KSM and the 9/11 conspirators; five Somali pirates who attacked a Navy ship in 2010; “American Taliban” John Walker Lindh; the WikiLeaks investigation; and the Khobar Towers terrorist bombing in Saudi Arabia. Mr. Davis also established the U.S. office in support of the Iraq War Crimes Tribunal that tried Saddam Hussein. He has tried more than 75 cases to verdict, and handled more than 75 appeals in the United States Courts of Appeals for the First, Fourth, and Eleventh Circuits.

Mr. Davis is licensed to practice in Virginia, Georgia, and New Hampshire. A native of Charlottesville and a graduate of Davidson College, he received his juris doctor, magna cum laude, from the Harvard Law School. Mr. Davis served as a law clerk to Justice William F. Batchelder of the New Hampshire Supreme Court.

 

Representative Experience:

LEGAL DISCLAIMER: THE RESULTS OF ANY LEGAL MATTER DEPEND ON A VARIETY OF FACTORS UNIQUE TO EACH MATTER. PAST RESULTS DO NOT PREDICT OR GUARANTEE SIMILAR RESULTS IN ANY FUTURE MATTER.

National Security:
-United States v. Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, No. 93CR180 (S.D.N.Y. 2009) (indictment of five al Qaeda conspirators for 9/11 attacks)
-United States v. John Walker Lindh, 212 F. Supp. 2d 541 (E.D. Va. 2002) (prosecution of "American Taliban")
-United States v. Al-Mughassil, No. 01-228-A (E.D. Va. 2001) (indictment of 14 Hezbollah conspirators for Khobar Towers bombing in Saudi Arabia)
-United States v. Hasan, 747 F. Supp. 2d 642 (E.D. Va. 2010) (trial of five Somali pirates who attacked Navy ship in Indian Ocean; first federal piracy trial in 150 years)
-In re Application of United States, 2011 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 130171 (E.D. Va. 2011) (defense of Stored Communications Act court order in WikiLeaks investigation)
-In re Four Search Warrants, 945 F. Supp. 1563 (N.D. Ga. 1996) (Atlanta Olympic Park bombing)

Financial Fraud:
-United States v. Day, 2011 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 130291 (E.D. Va. 2011) (defense contracting fraud trial)
-United States v. Curry, 461 F.3d 452 (4th Cir. 2006) (appeal of mail and wire fraud convictions)
-United States v. Hofler, 182 F. App'x 174 (4th Cir. 2006) (appeal of convictions in investment fraud scheme)
-State v. Williams, 581 A.2d 78 (N.H. 1990) (securities fraud trial involving real estate limited partnership scheme)
-State v. John C. Fairbanks (Sullivan Co. (N.H.) 1989) (indictment of former judge for $1.8 million embezzlement)

Health Care Fraud:
-United States v. Dyke, 34 F. App'x 931 (4th Cir. 2002) (wire fraud and money laundering prosecution of ersatz physician)
-State v. Hermsdorf, 605 A.2d 1045 (N.H. 1992) (Medicaid fraud trial of pharmacist and pharmacy)

Bribery:
-United States v. Lockheed Corp., No. 1:94CR226 (N.D. Ga. 1995) (supervision of FCPA prosecution)

Environmental Crime:
-United States v. Lapteff, 160 F. App'x 298 (4th Cir. 2005) (Clean Water Act trial)
-United States v. Hong, 242 F.3d 528 (4th Cir. 2000) (Clean Water Act trial involving responsible corporate officer doctrine)
-United States v. Cunningham, 194 F.3d 1186 (11th Cir. 1999) (hazardous waste trial)
-United States v. Goldsmith, 978 F.2d 643 (11th Cir. 1992) (hazardous waste trial)

Intellectual Property:
-United States v. Thomas, 331 F. App'x 263 (4th Cir. 2009) (trafficking in counterfeit goods)
-United States v. Chouman, No. 3:07CR79 (E.D. Va. 2007) (prosecution of New York counterfeit clothing wholesaler)

Money Laundering, Narcotics and Violent Crime:
-United States v. Young, 34 F. App'x 931 (4th Cir. 2002) (trial of three conspirators in carjacking/homicide)
-United States v. Riley, 215 F.3d 1323 (4th Cir. 2000) (cocaine and money laundering trial)
-United States v. Wood, 2000 U.S. App. LEXIS 19959 (4th Cir. 2000) (drug homicide trial)
-United States v. Harris, 20 F.3d 445 (11th Cir. 1994) (cocaine and money laundering trial of six defendants)

Habeas Corpus:
-United States v. Michel, 2011 U.S. App. LEXIS 15962 (4th Cir. 2011) (habeas petition alleging "actual conflict of interest" of defense counsel)
-United States v. Edwin Wilson, No. CR-82-212 (E.D. Va. 2008) (coram nobis petition of former CIA agent convicted of international arms trafficking)