John Gleeson, JD
John Gleeson, JD is a trial and appellate lawyer and company advisor who was a federal judge for 22 years before joining the firm in 2016. He is a litigation partner in the White Collar & Regulatory Defense and Commercial Litigation Groups. A fellow of the American College of Trial Lawyers, Judge Gleeson’s practice focuses on white collar defense, complex civil litigation, internal investigations, and dispute resolution. Since joining Debevoise, Judge Gleeson has argued cases in numerous federal and state courts of appeals, conducted trial proceedings in federal and state courts, appeared in multiple bankruptcy proceedings, acted as both a mediator and arbitrator in commercial disputes, conducted independent investigations, advised boards of directors on corporate governance matters, and provided expert testimony on United States law in multiple foreign tribunals. Judge Gleeson has also been appointed as amicus curiae on three occasions in separate federal courts to argue important issues of federal criminal law and procedure, including to make the argument against the government’s motion to dismiss the prosecution of former National Security Advisor Michael Flynn.
Prior to joining the firm, Judge Gleeson was a United States District Judge in the Eastern District of New York, sitting in Brooklyn. While a judge, Judge Gleeson authored more than 1,500 published opinions (including 14 opinions for the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit, sitting by designation). He also presided over more than 200 civil and criminal jury trials. He was assigned numerous Multidistrict Litigations, including two antitrust class actions against Visa and MasterCard and the Air Cargo antitrust cases. Judge Gleeson served on the Judicial Conference Committee on Defender Services for nine years (including three years as Chair). The Defender Services Committee is responsible for the nearly $1 billion per year program that provides effective defense counsel to the 80% of federal defendants who cannot afford to retain counsel.
Before his appointment to the bench in 1994, Judge Gleeson was a federal prosecutor in the same courthouse for 10 years. He served as Chief of Appeals, Chief of Special Prosecutions, Chief of Organized Crime and Chief of the Criminal Division. He personally tried 20 cases to verdict, argued 25 appeals in the United States Courts of Appeals for the Second Circuit, and also argued appeals in Third and Sixth Circuits. Among the numerous high-profile cases he tried, Judge Gleeson was the lead prosecutor in the murder and racketeering convictions of John Gotti and Victor Orena, the bosses of the Gambino and Colombo Families of La Cosa Nostra, respectively. Judge Gleeson received the Attorney General’s Distinguished Service Award for his service in the Gotti case.
Prior to becoming a federal prosecutor, Judge Gleeson was a litigation associate at Cravath, Swaine & Moore for four years and a law clerk for the Hon. Boyce F. Martin, Jr. on the United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit.
Judge Gleeson has taught law for more than 30 years. He currently teaches Complex Federal Investigations at Harvard Law School and Sentencing at New York University School of Law. He was the John A. Ewald, Jr. Distinguished Visiting Professor of Law at the University of Virginia School of Law. He has guest lectured at Yale Law School, Columbia Law School, Stanford Law School, Cornell Law School, University of Michigan Law School, Fordham Law School, Brooklyn Law School, and Cardozo School of Law. He is a co-author of the widely used treatise Federal Criminal Practice: A Second Circuit Handbook (LexisNexis), which is now in its 20th edition.
Judge Gleeson is a member of the American Law Institute, a trustee of the Vera Institute of Justice, a member of the Advisory Boards of the Program on Corporate Compliance and Enforcement and the Center on Civil Justice at NYU School of Law, and a member of the Board of Directors of the Federal Defenders of New York.
