Dorothy Ames Jeffress, known as Amy Jeffress,[1] is an attorney and former public official in the United States. She is a partner at the law firm Arnold & Porter.

Amy Jeffress
Born
Dorothy Ames Jeffress

1964 or 1965 (age 59–60)
Alma mater
OccupationLawyer
SpouseChristopher R. Cooper

Early life and education

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Jeffress is the daughter of William H. Jeffress Jr., a prominent Washington defense attorney, and Judith Jeffress, a social worker.[2][1] Jeffress graduated from Williams College and obtained a master's degree in political science from the Free University of Berlin.[1] She completed her Juris Doctor degree at Yale Law School.[2] She worked as a law clerk for Judge Gerhard Gesell, and then, following his death in 1993, completed her clerkship with Judge Thomas F. Hogan.[2]

Career

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During the Clinton administration, Jeffress worked for the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) as a prosecutor.[2] She worked as a national security counselor to Attorney General Eric Holder and then as the Justice department attache at the U.S. embassy in London for three years.[3] During her tenure as a national security prosecutor at the DOJ, she consulted with U.S. District Judge Royce Lamberth, who then agreed in 2008 to unseal documents from the FBI investigation into the 2001 anthrax attacks.[4] As an advisor to Holder, she created interagency task forces to review the cases of detainees at the Guantanamo Bay detention camp.[5]

In 2014, Jeffress joined the law firm Arnold & Porter as a partner, with a focus on criminal defense, national security law, and white collar business practices.[6][7][8] In November 2015, she was also appointed as a public advocate at the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court (FISC).[9] As a public advocate, she contributed as an amicus curae after being asked to examine intelligence gathering and retention practices by national security agencies and the FBI, and she wrote the FBI practices "go far beyond the purpose for which the Section 702-acquired information is collected in permitting queries that are unrelated to national security"[10] and "These practices do not comply with ... the Fourth Amendment."[11][12]

In 2016, Jeffress participated in the mock trial of Winston vs. Oceania, based on the George Orwell novel 1984, which aired on C-SPAN.[13] In 2018, Jeffress represented Lisa Page.[14] In 2020 and 2021, Jeffress represented Anne Sacoolas, the wife of a U.S. diplomat involved in a fatal car crash in the United Kingdom.[15][16]

Honors and awards

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  • 2006 Attorney General's John Marshall Award[2]

Personal life

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Her brother Jonathan Jeffress has worked for the Office of the Federal Public Defender.[2]

Jeffress is married to Christopher R. Cooper, Judge of the United States District Court for the District of Columbia.[2] Merrick Garland officiated at their wedding.[1]

References

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  1. ^ a b c d "WEDDINGS; Amy Jeffress, Casey Cooper". The New York Times. May 2, 1999. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved June 19, 2022.
  2. ^ a b c d e f g Leonig, Carol D. (December 6, 2006). "Courthouse a Home Away From Home For a Father, Son and Daughter Who Are Lawyers, Chance to Share in Family Is Just Down the Hall". The Washington Post. Archived from the original on June 19, 2022. Retrieved June 19, 2022.
  3. ^ Kamen, Al (June 10, 2013). "Is Eric Holder tired yet?". The Washington Post. Archived from the original on June 11, 2013. Retrieved June 19, 2022.
  4. ^ "Documents released in FBI's anthrax probe". NJ.com. Associated Press. August 6, 2008. Archived from the original on June 19, 2022. Retrieved June 19, 2022.
  5. ^ Mayer, Jane (February 3, 2010). "The Trial". The New Yorker. Archived from the original on July 18, 2021. Retrieved June 19, 2022.
  6. ^ Apuzzo, Matt; Schmidt, Michael S.; Mazzetti, Mark (November 20, 2014). "Eavesdropping on Pakistani Official Led to Inquiry Into Former U.S. Diplomat". The New York Times. Archived from the original on April 16, 2022. Retrieved June 19, 2022.
  7. ^ "Former Top DOJ Lawyer Amy Jeffress Joins Arnold & Porter". Law.com. April 17, 2014. Archived from the original on June 19, 2022. Retrieved June 17, 2022.
  8. ^ "Former Justice Department Prosecutor and National Security Official Amy Jeffress Joins Arnold & Porter". Arnold & Porter. April 16, 2014. Retrieved June 20, 2022.
  9. ^ Farivar, Cyrus (November 28, 2015). "America's super-secret court names five lawyers as public advocates". Ars Technica. Archived from the original on May 16, 2022. Retrieved June 19, 2022.
  10. ^ Wilber, Del Quentin (April 19, 2016). "U.S. spy court judge dismissed privacy advocate's concerns about data use". Los Angeles Times. Archived from the original on February 24, 2022. Retrieved June 19, 2022.
  11. ^ Nakashima, Ellen (April 20, 2016). "Public advocate: FBI's use of PRISM surveillance data is unconstitutional". The Washington Post. Archived from the original on June 9, 2021. Retrieved June 19, 2022.
  12. ^ Emmons, Alex (April 21, 2017). "In Secret Court Hearing, Lawyer Objected to FBI Sifting Through NSA Data Like It Was Google". The Intercept. Archived from the original on June 14, 2022. Retrieved June 17, 2022.
  13. ^ "1984 Mock Trial". C-SPAN. June 20, 2016. Archived from the original on March 31, 2022. Retrieved June 19, 2022.
  14. ^ Parkinson, John; Siegel, Benjamin (July 13, 2018). "Former FBI lawyer Lisa Page appears for interview as GOP searches for anti-Trump bias". ABC News. Retrieved June 20, 2022.
  15. ^ Austin, Henry (September 9, 2020). "Harry Dunn's parents file U.S. lawsuit against diplomat's wife over fatal U.K. crash". NBC News. Retrieved June 20, 2022.
  16. ^ Rozenberg, Joshua (March 11, 2021). Gregorius, Arlene (ed.). "Exclusive interview with the lawyer of Anne Sacoolas". BBC Radio. Archived from the original on June 17, 2022. Retrieved June 17, 2022.