Thomas J. Perrelli
Encyclopedia
Thomas John Perrelli is an American
lawyer
and the United States Associate Attorney General
. Perrelli also served as Deputy Assistant Attorney General of the United States
in the late 1990s.
. He was a three time National Junior Classical League Certamen (Latin competition) champion. Also, his freshman year at Brown, 1984, he placed first in the annual William Lowell Putnam Mathematical Competition
. He earned his A.B., magna cum laude in History
from Brown University
in 1988, where he served as Editor-in-Chief of The Critical Review
, Brown's student publication of course evaluations. Perrelli graduated from Harvard Law School
, magna cum laude, in 1991, where he was managing editor of the Harvard Law Review
, working under Barack Obama
, who was President of the Harvard Law Review at the time. Perrelli is admitted to practice before the United States Supreme Court
, the Virginia
and District of Columbia courts and numerous other federal courts
. Prior to joining Jenner & Block, in 1991-92, Perrelli clerked for the Honorable Royce C. Lamberth
of the United States District Court for the District of Columbia
.
partner
of Jenner & Block
's Washington office, Co-Chair of the firm's Entertainment and New Media Practice, and a member of the firm's Appellate and Supreme Court
, Class Action Litigation, Health Care Law, Intellectual Property
, Litigation & Dispute Resolution, Media and First Amendment
, and Telecommunications Practices. He was also a member of the firm's Management Committee. Perrelli concentrated his practice on copyright
, media, and constitutional litigation, as well as complex litigation with a public policy or regulatory component. The National Law Journal
once listed him among the nation's 40 most promising lawyers under 40 for exhibiting "extraordinary achievements" in his career.
Perrelli regularly represented the recording industry in intellectual property, technology, and anti-copyright-infringement litigation
. He has represented the recording industry in a host of cases arising under the Digital Millennium Copyright Act
(DMCA), as well as in copyright infringement and digital piracy litigation. Since his return to Jenner and Block in 2001, Perrelli has also represented Democratic voters and elected officials in redistricting litigation arising out of the 2000 Census
.
He represented Michael Schiavo (2003–2005) and won for him the right to terminate his wife's life support
.
Perrelli was previously an associate at Jenner & Block from 1992 to 1997.
and served as counsel to Attorney General
Janet Reno
. He subsequently rose to Deputy Assistant Attorney General, supervising the Federal Programs Branch of the Civil Division, which represents virtually every federal agency in complex civil litigation. In that role, Perrelli led a staff of 100 attorneys charged with defending the constitutionality of federal statutes, defending federal agency action and regulations, representing the diplomatic and national security
interests of the United States in courts of law, and conducting significant Title VII, personnel and social security litigation.
Perrelli also supervised the Justice Department's Tobacco
Litigation Team in its litigation against the major cigarette manufacturers. In addition, he played a leading role on significant policy issues ranging from medical records privacy and the use of adjusted figures in the census to Indian gaming and legal ethics.
Barack Obama
nominated Perrelli as the 18th Associate Attorney General of the United States
. He was confirmed by the United States Senate
in a 72-20 vote on March 12, 2009.
Mr. Perrelli ordered career attorneys in the Civil Rights Division to drop a civil case they had prepared (under the 1965 Voting Rights Act) against members of the New Black Panther Party for voter intimidation at Philadelphia
polling places in the United States elections, 2008
.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
lawyer
Lawyer
A lawyer, according to Black's Law Dictionary, is "a person learned in the law; as an attorney, counsel or solicitor; a person who is practicing law." Law is the system of rules of conduct established by the sovereign government of a society to correct wrongs, maintain the stability of political...
and the United States Associate Attorney General
United States Associate Attorney General
The Associate Attorney General is the third-ranking official in the United States Department of Justice. The Associate Attorney General advises and assists the Attorney General and the Deputy Attorney General in policies relating to civil justice, federal and local law enforcement, and public...
. Perrelli also served as Deputy Assistant Attorney General of the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
in the late 1990s.
Early life
As a high school senior at W.T. Woodson HS, he was co-captain of the Fairfax All-County Math TeamMathlete
A mathlete is a person who competes in mathematics competitions at any level or any age. The term is a portmanteau of the words math and athlete.Top mathletes in the United States compete on the AIME, USAMO, and ARML...
. He was a three time National Junior Classical League Certamen (Latin competition) champion. Also, his freshman year at Brown, 1984, he placed first in the annual William Lowell Putnam Mathematical Competition
William Lowell Putnam Mathematical Competition
The William Lowell Putnam Mathematical Competition, often abbreviated to the Putnam Competition, is an annual mathematics competition for undergraduate college students of the United States and Canada, awarding scholarships and cash prizes ranging from $250 to $2,500 for the top students and $5,000...
. He earned his A.B., magna cum laude in History
History
History is the discovery, collection, organization, and presentation of information about past events. History can also mean the period of time after writing was invented. Scholars who write about history are called historians...
from Brown University
Brown University
Brown University is a private, Ivy League university located in Providence, Rhode Island, United States. Founded in 1764 prior to American independence from the British Empire as the College in the English Colony of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations early in the reign of King George III ,...
in 1988, where he served as Editor-in-Chief of The Critical Review
Critical Review (Brown)
The Critical Review is a student publication that produces reviews of course offerings at Brown University. The student group that produces it is also called the Critical Review. The reviews are written by Brown students from course evaluation questionnaires distributed to class members in the...
, Brown's student publication of course evaluations. Perrelli graduated from Harvard Law School
Harvard Law School
Harvard Law School is one of the professional graduate schools of Harvard University. Located in Cambridge, Massachusetts, it is the oldest continually-operating law school in the United States and is home to the largest academic law library in the world. The school is routinely ranked by the U.S...
, magna cum laude, in 1991, where he was managing editor of the Harvard Law Review
Harvard Law Review
The Harvard Law Review is a journal of legal scholarship published by an independent student group at Harvard Law School.-Overview:According to the 2008 Journal Citation Reports, the Review is the most cited law review and has the second-highest impact factor in the category "law" after the...
, working under Barack Obama
Barack Obama
Barack Hussein Obama II is the 44th and current President of the United States. He is the first African American to hold the office. Obama previously served as a United States Senator from Illinois, from January 2005 until he resigned following his victory in the 2008 presidential election.Born in...
, who was President of the Harvard Law Review at the time. Perrelli is admitted to practice before the United States Supreme Court
Supreme Court of the United States
The Supreme Court of the United States is the highest court in the United States. It has ultimate appellate jurisdiction over all state and federal courts, and original jurisdiction over a small range of cases...
, the Virginia
Virginia
The Commonwealth of Virginia , is a U.S. state on the Atlantic Coast of the Southern United States. Virginia is nicknamed the "Old Dominion" and sometimes the "Mother of Presidents" after the eight U.S. presidents born there...
and District of Columbia courts and numerous other federal courts
United States federal courts
The United States federal courts make up the judiciary branch of federal government of the United States organized under the United States Constitution and laws of the federal government.-Categories:...
. Prior to joining Jenner & Block, in 1991-92, Perrelli clerked for the Honorable Royce C. Lamberth
Royce C. Lamberth
Royce C. Lamberth is a federal judge in the United States District Court for the District of Columbia, serving as its Chief Judge....
of the United States District Court for the District of Columbia
United States District Court for the District of Columbia
The United States District Court for the District of Columbia is a federal district court. Appeals from the District are taken to the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit The United States District Court for the District of Columbia (in case citations, D.D.C.) is a...
.
Jenner & Block
Before joining the Obama administration, Perelli was managingManagement
Management in all business and organizational activities is the act of getting people together to accomplish desired goals and objectives using available resources efficiently and effectively...
partner
Partnership
A partnership is an arrangement where parties agree to cooperate to advance their mutual interests.Since humans are social beings, partnerships between individuals, businesses, interest-based organizations, schools, governments, and varied combinations thereof, have always been and remain commonplace...
of Jenner & Block
Jenner & Block
Jenner & Block is a U.S. law firm with offices in Chicago, New York, Los Angeles, and Washington, DC. Approximately 450 attorneys serve a wide range of clients in corporate litigation, business transactions, and in the public sector. Jerold S. Solovy was the longtime Chair of the firm, but on Sept...
's Washington office, Co-Chair of the firm's Entertainment and New Media Practice, and a member of the firm's Appellate and Supreme Court
Supreme Court of the United States
The Supreme Court of the United States is the highest court in the United States. It has ultimate appellate jurisdiction over all state and federal courts, and original jurisdiction over a small range of cases...
, Class Action Litigation, Health Care Law, Intellectual Property
Intellectual property
Intellectual property is a term referring to a number of distinct types of creations of the mind for which a set of exclusive rights are recognized—and the corresponding fields of law...
, Litigation & Dispute Resolution, Media and First Amendment
First Amendment to the United States Constitution
The First Amendment to the United States Constitution is part of the Bill of Rights. The amendment prohibits the making of any law respecting an establishment of religion, impeding the free exercise of religion, abridging the freedom of speech, infringing on the freedom of the press, interfering...
, and Telecommunications Practices. He was also a member of the firm's Management Committee. Perrelli concentrated his practice on copyright
Copyright
Copyright is a legal concept, enacted by most governments, giving the creator of an original work exclusive rights to it, usually for a limited time...
, media, and constitutional litigation, as well as complex litigation with a public policy or regulatory component. The National Law Journal
The National Law Journal
The National Law Journal, a U.S. periodical founded in 1978, reports legal information of national importance to attorneys, including federal circuit court decisions, verdicts, practitioners' columns, coverage of legislative issues and legal news for the business and private sectors.The...
once listed him among the nation's 40 most promising lawyers under 40 for exhibiting "extraordinary achievements" in his career.
Perrelli regularly represented the recording industry in intellectual property, technology, and anti-copyright-infringement litigation
Trade group efforts against file sharing
Impact of illegal downloading on the film industryArts and media industry trade groups such as the Recording Industry Association of America and Motion Picture Association of America strongly oppose and attempt to prevent copyright infringement through file sharing...
. He has represented the recording industry in a host of cases arising under the Digital Millennium Copyright Act
Digital Millennium Copyright Act
The Digital Millennium Copyright Act is a United States copyright law that implements two 1996 treaties of the World Intellectual Property Organization . It criminalizes production and dissemination of technology, devices, or services intended to circumvent measures that control access to...
(DMCA), as well as in copyright infringement and digital piracy litigation. Since his return to Jenner and Block in 2001, Perrelli has also represented Democratic voters and elected officials in redistricting litigation arising out of the 2000 Census
United States Census, 2000
The Twenty-second United States Census, known as Census 2000 and conducted by the Census Bureau, determined the resident population of the United States on April 1, 2000, to be 281,421,906, an increase of 13.2% over the 248,709,873 persons enumerated during the 1990 Census...
.
He represented Michael Schiavo (2003–2005) and won for him the right to terminate his wife's life support
Terri Schiavo case
The Terri Schiavo case was a legal battle in the United States between the legal guardians and the parents of Teresa Marie "Terri" Schiavo that lasted from 1998 to 2005...
.
Perrelli was previously an associate at Jenner & Block from 1992 to 1997.
Clinton administration
In 1997, Perrelli left Jenner & Block to join the Department of JusticeUnited States Department of Justice
The United States Department of Justice , is the United States federal executive department responsible for the enforcement of the law and administration of justice, equivalent to the justice or interior ministries of other countries.The Department is led by the Attorney General, who is nominated...
and served as counsel to Attorney General
United States Attorney General
The United States Attorney General is the head of the United States Department of Justice concerned with legal affairs and is the chief law enforcement officer of the United States government. The attorney general is considered to be the chief lawyer of the U.S. government...
Janet Reno
Janet Reno
Janet Wood Reno is a former Attorney General of the United States . She was nominated by President Bill Clinton on February 11, 1993, and confirmed on March 11...
. He subsequently rose to Deputy Assistant Attorney General, supervising the Federal Programs Branch of the Civil Division, which represents virtually every federal agency in complex civil litigation. In that role, Perrelli led a staff of 100 attorneys charged with defending the constitutionality of federal statutes, defending federal agency action and regulations, representing the diplomatic and national security
National security
National security is the requirement to maintain the survival of the state through the use of economic, diplomacy, power projection and political power. The concept developed mostly in the United States of America after World War II...
interests of the United States in courts of law, and conducting significant Title VII, personnel and social security litigation.
Perrelli also supervised the Justice Department's Tobacco
Tobacco industry
The tobacco industry comprises those persons and companies engaged in the growth, preparation for sale, shipment, advertisement, and distribution of tobacco and tobacco-related products. It is a global industry; tobacco can grow in any warm, moist environment, which means it can be farmed on all...
Litigation Team in its litigation against the major cigarette manufacturers. In addition, he played a leading role on significant policy issues ranging from medical records privacy and the use of adjusted figures in the census to Indian gaming and legal ethics.
Obama administration
On January 5, 2009, President-electPresident-elect of the United States
President-elect of the United States is the title used for an incoming President of the United States in the period between the general election on Election Day in November and noon eastern standard time on Inauguration Day, January 20, during which he is not in office yet...
Barack Obama
Barack Obama
Barack Hussein Obama II is the 44th and current President of the United States. He is the first African American to hold the office. Obama previously served as a United States Senator from Illinois, from January 2005 until he resigned following his victory in the 2008 presidential election.Born in...
nominated Perrelli as the 18th Associate Attorney General of the United States
United States Associate Attorney General
The Associate Attorney General is the third-ranking official in the United States Department of Justice. The Associate Attorney General advises and assists the Attorney General and the Deputy Attorney General in policies relating to civil justice, federal and local law enforcement, and public...
. He was confirmed by the United States Senate
United States Senate
The United States Senate is the upper house of the bicameral legislature of the United States, and together with the United States House of Representatives comprises the United States Congress. The composition and powers of the Senate are established in Article One of the U.S. Constitution. Each...
in a 72-20 vote on March 12, 2009.
Mr. Perrelli ordered career attorneys in the Civil Rights Division to drop a civil case they had prepared (under the 1965 Voting Rights Act) against members of the New Black Panther Party for voter intimidation at Philadelphia
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Philadelphia is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania and the county seat of Philadelphia County, with which it is coterminous. The city is located in the Northeastern United States along the Delaware and Schuylkill rivers. It is the fifth-most-populous city in the United States,...
polling places in the United States elections, 2008
United States elections, 2008
The 2008 United States general elections were held on November 4. The result was a significant victory for the Democratic Party on the national level, as they increased majorities in both houses of Congress and won the Presidency. Democrat Barack Obama defeated Republican John McCain in the...
.
Publications
- "Defending Lanham Act Claims Against Expressive Works and Raising a Defense Based on the First Amendment," Media Law Resource Bulletin, January 2004
- "Piracy Battles Online," Copyright World, February 2003
- Deanne Maynard and Tom Perrelli, "9th Circuit Denies Dustin Hoffman's Publicity Claim," National Law Journal, C4, October 22, 2001
- Case Note, "Search and Seizure -- Suspicionless Drug Testing," 103 Harvard Law Review 592, 1989
- Case Comment, "Section 1983: Golden State Transit Corp. v. Los Angeles," 104 Harvard Law Review 339, 1990