Cravath’s New York Office Moves to Two Manhattan West
John D. Buretta is Chair of the Investigations and Regulatory Enforcement Practice and a former U.S. Department of Justice official. Named Global Investigations Review’s “Investigations Professional of the Year,” Mr. Buretta represents corporate and individual clients in their most high‑stakes and sensitive internal investigations, regulatory enforcement and compliance matters, shareholder demands and civil litigation.
Described by clients as “an absolute star” who “has the ear of both the US authorities and client boards,” (The Legal 500 US), Mr. Buretta represents global companies, boards of directors, audit committees, individual board members, company owners, senior management, in-house counsels, law firms, and former U.S. and foreign government officials. His work spans industries, including the banking, private investment, energy, publishing, communications, technology, food, consumer, mining, aircraft, automotive, shipping, healthcare and pharmaceutical sectors.
He has represented clients before the Criminal, Antitrust, National Security and Tax Divisions of the Department of Justice (DOJ); U.S. Attorneys’ Offices around the country; the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC); the Commodity Futures Trading Commission; the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation; the Federal Reserve Board of Governors; the Department of Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control; the Department of Commerce’s Bureau of Industry and Security; the Department of State; state Attorneys General and state banking regulators; and non‑U.S. enforcement agencies.
Mr. Buretta has handled a variety of sensitive investigative matters concerning the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA); antitrust laws; securities fraud and disclosure regulations; accounting standards; money laundering and anti-money laundering controls; trade sanctions and export controls; manufacturing integrity and product recalls; the False Claims Act; cyber intrusion; and tax compliance.
Chambers USA states that Mr. Buretta is “calmness personified,” “has a great strategic mind” and is “sought out by corporate clients and their high‑level employees in need of representation in complex government investigations, frequently advising across a range of industry sectors,” ranking him as a leading lawyer in FCPA and White‑Collar Crime & Government Investigations. Chambers Global also recognizes him as a leading global FCPA lawyer. He is recognized as a “National Star” and “Litigation Star” for New York by Benchmark Litigation. The Legal 500 US describes him as “creative, engaged, and incredibly well‑respected by government prosecutors,” and recommended him for his work in white collar criminal defense, antitrust, financial services litigation and securities litigation.
Lawdragon has named Mr. Buretta a nationwide “Legend” and selected him as one of the “500 Leading Lawyers in America,” “500 Leading Litigators in America,” “500 Leading Global Litigators,” and “500 Leading Global Cyber Lawyers.” He is listed as one of the Best Lawyers in America for white collar criminal defense and was named to The Ethisphere Institute’s list of “Attorneys Who Matter,” including as a “Top Gun.” Mr. Buretta is additionally recognized among the leading attorneys in the United States in Euromoney Legal Media Group’s Guide to the World’s Leading White Collar Crime Lawyers and its Best of the Best USA Expert Guide – White Collar Crime.
Mr. Buretta speaks and writes frequently on the topic of regulatory enforcement and compliance. He recently co‑edited Global Investigation Review’s (“GIR”) 2021 “Guide to International Enforcement of the Securities Laws” and the tenth edition of The Cartels and Leniency Review (Law Business Research, 2022), as well as co‑authored chapters in both publications. He edited the eighth edition of Lexology Getting the Deal Through’s “Government Investigations” and authored the Global Overview and the U.S. chapter. Mr. Buretta also authored the U.S. chapter for The Legal 500’s “Bribery & Corruption Comparative Guide,” the “U.S. Sanctions” chapter in GIR’s “The Guide to Sanctions” and the North American Overview and a chapter in GIR’s “The Practitioner’s Guide to Global Investigations.”
Mr. Buretta completed his time at the DOJ as the number‑two ranking official in the Criminal Division as Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General and Chief of Staff. In this role, he oversaw nearly 600 prosecutors on complex matters involving corporate fraud, FCPA, insider trading, healthcare fraud, money laundering, the Bank Secrecy Act, trade sanctions, asset forfeiture, cybercrime, intellectual property theft, public corruption and other criminal investigations, and interacted with the Department’s Antitrust, Civil, Environmental, National Security and Tax Divisions on matters of mutual interest.
Mr. Buretta also served as Deputy Assistant Attorney General (DAAG) for the DOJ Criminal Division, where he oversaw the Criminal Division’s Fraud Section, among others, including the DOJ’s FCPA Unit, and supervised the preparation of the DOJ and SEC’s Resource Guide to the U.S. Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, issued in November 2012. Mr. Buretta also represented the DOJ before Congress and the Sentencing Commission with regard to white collar crime enforcement efforts. In 2011, Mr. Buretta was appointed Director of the Deepwater Horizon Task Force, a position he continued to fill while serving as DAAG.
Prior to joining the Criminal Division, Mr. Buretta served for eight years as an Assistant U.S. Attorney in the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of New York, and was Chief of the Office’s Organized Crime and Racketeering Section from 2008 to 2011. Mr. Buretta also served in the Office’s National Security Section, where he handled investigations under the Anti‑Terrorism Act and Espionage Act, among others. He served as the prosecutor in 10 trials during this time.
During his tenure at the DOJ, Mr. Buretta earned the Department’s highest commendations, including the Attorney General’s Award for Exceptional Service, the Attorney General’s Award for Distinguished Service and the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) Director’s Award for Excellence.
Mr. Buretta has served as an expert witness in foreign proceedings on the subject of U.S. law, policies and practices in enforcement of the FCPA and as to U.S. anti-money laundering laws.
Mr. Buretta has also served as a monitor in separate appointments by the DOJ and by the Department of Transportation (DOT). Mr. Buretta was selected by the DOT’s National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) to serve as the compliance monitor for TK Holdings, Inc. (“Takata”) and numerous affected auto manufacturers as part of a settlement agreement and consolidated remedy order concerning the recall of certain of Takata’s ammonium nitrate airbag inflators. NHTSA has described the recall as the largest and most complex in U.S. history. In January 2021, Mr. Buretta and the NHTSA issued the final annual report on the state of the Takata airbag recalls, marking the conclusion of the monitorship. Mr. Buretta was also appointed by the DOJ to serve as compliance monitor regarding the worldwide operations of Takata Corporation, headquartered in Japan.
Mr. Buretta was born in St. Louis, Missouri, and grew up in Fresno, California. He received a B.A. in 1993 from the University of California at Berkeley. In 1996, he received a J.D. cum laude from Georgetown University Law Center, where he earned the Edward Allen Tamm Award and was Editor‑in‑Chief of the Georgetown Law Journal’s Annual Review of Criminal Procedure.
Mr. Buretta first joined Cravath in 1996 where he was trained as a litigation associate working on private disputes involving securities fraud and complex commercial litigation. Following a one-year clerkship with Hon. Peter K. Leisure of the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York, Mr. Buretta returned to the Firm in 1999. He left the Firm in 2002 and served for over 10 years in the Department of Justice. He rejoined Cravath as a partner in November 2013.
He has represented clients before the Criminal, Antitrust, National Security and Tax Divisions of the Department of Justice (DOJ); U.S. Attorneys’ Offices around the country; the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC); the Commodity Futures Trading Commission; the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation; the Federal Reserve Board of Governors; the Department of Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control; the Department of Commerce’s Bureau of Industry and Security; the Department of State; state Attorneys General and state banking regulators; and non‑U.S. enforcement agencies.
Mr. Buretta has handled a variety of sensitive investigative matters concerning the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA); antitrust laws; securities fraud and disclosure regulations; accounting standards; money laundering and anti-money laundering controls; trade sanctions and export controls; manufacturing integrity and product recalls; the False Claims Act; cyber intrusion; and tax compliance.
Chambers USA states that Mr. Buretta is “calmness personified,” “has a great strategic mind” and is “sought out by corporate clients and their high‑level employees in need of representation in complex government investigations, frequently advising across a range of industry sectors,” ranking him as a leading lawyer in FCPA and White‑Collar Crime & Government Investigations. Chambers Global also recognizes him as a leading global FCPA lawyer. He is recognized as a “National Star” and “Litigation Star” for New York by Benchmark Litigation. The Legal 500 US describes him as “creative, engaged, and incredibly well‑respected by government prosecutors,” and recommended him for his work in white collar criminal defense, antitrust, financial services litigation and securities litigation.
Lawdragon has named Mr. Buretta a nationwide “Legend” and selected him as one of the “500 Leading Lawyers in America,” “500 Leading Litigators in America,” “500 Leading Global Litigators,” and “500 Leading Global Cyber Lawyers.” He is listed as one of the Best Lawyers in America for white collar criminal defense and was named to The Ethisphere Institute’s list of “Attorneys Who Matter,” including as a “Top Gun.” Mr. Buretta is additionally recognized among the leading attorneys in the United States in Euromoney Legal Media Group’s Guide to the World’s Leading White Collar Crime Lawyers and its Best of the Best USA Expert Guide – White Collar Crime.
Mr. Buretta speaks and writes frequently on the topic of regulatory enforcement and compliance. He recently co‑edited Global Investigation Review’s (“GIR”) 2021 “Guide to International Enforcement of the Securities Laws” and the tenth edition of The Cartels and Leniency Review (Law Business Research, 2022), as well as co‑authored chapters in both publications. He edited the eighth edition of Lexology Getting the Deal Through’s “Government Investigations” and authored the Global Overview and the U.S. chapter. Mr. Buretta also authored the U.S. chapter for The Legal 500’s “Bribery & Corruption Comparative Guide,” the “U.S. Sanctions” chapter in GIR’s “The Guide to Sanctions” and the North American Overview and a chapter in GIR’s “The Practitioner’s Guide to Global Investigations.”
Mr. Buretta completed his time at the DOJ as the number‑two ranking official in the Criminal Division as Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General and Chief of Staff. In this role, he oversaw nearly 600 prosecutors on complex matters involving corporate fraud, FCPA, insider trading, healthcare fraud, money laundering, the Bank Secrecy Act, trade sanctions, asset forfeiture, cybercrime, intellectual property theft, public corruption and other criminal investigations, and interacted with the Department’s Antitrust, Civil, Environmental, National Security and Tax Divisions on matters of mutual interest.
Mr. Buretta also served as Deputy Assistant Attorney General (DAAG) for the DOJ Criminal Division, where he oversaw the Criminal Division’s Fraud Section, among others, including the DOJ’s FCPA Unit, and supervised the preparation of the DOJ and SEC’s Resource Guide to the U.S. Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, issued in November 2012. Mr. Buretta also represented the DOJ before Congress and the Sentencing Commission with regard to white collar crime enforcement efforts. In 2011, Mr. Buretta was appointed Director of the Deepwater Horizon Task Force, a position he continued to fill while serving as DAAG.
Prior to joining the Criminal Division, Mr. Buretta served for eight years as an Assistant U.S. Attorney in the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of New York, and was Chief of the Office’s Organized Crime and Racketeering Section from 2008 to 2011. Mr. Buretta also served in the Office’s National Security Section, where he handled investigations under the Anti‑Terrorism Act and Espionage Act, among others. He served as the prosecutor in 10 trials during this time.
During his tenure at the DOJ, Mr. Buretta earned the Department’s highest commendations, including the Attorney General’s Award for Exceptional Service, the Attorney General’s Award for Distinguished Service and the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) Director’s Award for Excellence.
Mr. Buretta has served as an expert witness in foreign proceedings on the subject of U.S. law, policies and practices in enforcement of the FCPA and as to U.S. anti-money laundering laws.
Mr. Buretta has also served as a monitor in separate appointments by the DOJ and by the Department of Transportation (DOT). Mr. Buretta was selected by the DOT’s National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) to serve as the compliance monitor for TK Holdings, Inc. (“Takata”) and numerous affected auto manufacturers as part of a settlement agreement and consolidated remedy order concerning the recall of certain of Takata’s ammonium nitrate airbag inflators. NHTSA has described the recall as the largest and most complex in U.S. history. In January 2021, Mr. Buretta and the NHTSA issued the final annual report on the state of the Takata airbag recalls, marking the conclusion of the monitorship. Mr. Buretta was also appointed by the DOJ to serve as compliance monitor regarding the worldwide operations of Takata Corporation, headquartered in Japan.
Mr. Buretta was born in St. Louis, Missouri, and grew up in Fresno, California. He received a B.A. in 1993 from the University of California at Berkeley. In 1996, he received a J.D. cum laude from Georgetown University Law Center, where he earned the Edward Allen Tamm Award and was Editor‑in‑Chief of the Georgetown Law Journal’s Annual Review of Criminal Procedure.
Mr. Buretta first joined Cravath in 1996 where he was trained as a litigation associate working on private disputes involving securities fraud and complex commercial litigation. Following a one-year clerkship with Hon. Peter K. Leisure of the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York, Mr. Buretta returned to the Firm in 1999. He left the Firm in 2002 and served for over 10 years in the Department of Justice. He rejoined Cravath as a partner in November 2013.
Citizens Budget Commission
Benchmark Litigation
Best Lawyers in America
Chambers Global
Chambers USA
Lawdragon
The Legal 500 US
Attorney General’s Award for Distinguished Service, 2008
Attorney General’s Award for Exceptional Service, 2013
Charles E. Rose Award, Eastern District of New York Association, 2011
FBI Director’s Award for Excellence, 2013
Prosecutor of the Year, Federal Law Enforcement Foundation, 2008
United States Attorney’s Award for Management Excellence, 2009
Deals & Cases
July 09, 2024
On July 1, 2024, Silvergate announced it has agreed to settlements with the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System (“Federal Reserve”), the California Department of Financial Protection and Innovation (“DFPI”) and the Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”). In a statement, Silvergate noted its decision to liquidate voluntarily and without government assistance in March 2023, and that, as of November 2023, all deposits had been repaid to banking customers, soon after which Silvergate ceased banking operations. The announced settlements, which facilitate the surrender of Silvergate’s bank charter, are part of the Bank’s continued orderly wind down and conclude investigations by the Federal Reserve, DFPI, and SEC. Cravath represented Silvergate in connection with the investigations, resulting settlements, and voluntary liquidation.
Deals & Cases
January 11, 2024
AerCap Holdings N.V, the world’s largest commercial aircraft leasing company, which Cravath is representing in connection with U.S. sanctions and export controls matters, has secured over $1.2 billion in related insurance recoveries involving Russian airlines’ refusal to return over 100 aircraft leased from AerCap following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in February 2022. In September 2023, in the first announced insurance settlement of its kind, Cravath represented AerCap in obtaining authorizations from the U.S. Office of Foreign Assets Control (“OFAC”) and the U.S. Department of Commerce’s U.S. Bureau of Industry and Security (“BIS”) for an agreement to enable payment of approximately $645 million to AerCap to resolve claims against certain Russian insurers and airlines as to a substantial number of AerCap aircraft. Cravath also represented AerCap before BIS and OFAC in connection with AerCap’s subsequent, $572 million insurance settlements with Russian insurers and airlines announced in December 2023.
Deals & Cases
December 12, 2023
On December 11, 2023, Star Bulk Carriers Corp. (“Star Bulk”), a global shipping company focusing on the transportation of dry bulk cargoes, and Eagle Bulk Shipping Inc. (“Eagle”), one of the world’s largest owner-operators within the midsize dry bulk vessel segment, announced that the companies have entered into a definitive agreement to combine in an all-stock merger on a Net Asset Value to Net Asset Value (“NAV”) basis with a pro forma market capitalization of approximately $2.1 billion. Under the terms of the agreement, which was unanimously approved by the boards of directors of both companies, Eagle shareholders will receive 2.6211 shares of Star Bulk common stock for each share of Eagle common stock owned. This represents a total consideration of approximately $52.60 per share, a 17% premium based on Eagle’s closing share price of $44.85 on December 8, 2023. Upon the close of the transaction, Star Bulk and Eagle shareholders will own approximately 71% and 29% of the combined company on a fully diluted basis, respectively. Cravath is representing Star Bulk in connection with the transaction.
Deals & Cases
October 16, 2023
On October 16, 2023, Vista Outdoor Inc. (“Vista Outdoor”), the parent company of 41 renowned brands that design, manufacture and market sporting and outdoor products to consumers around the globe, announced a definitive agreement to sell its Sporting Products business to Czechoslovak Group a.s. (“CSG”), a leading industrial technology holding company, for an enterprise value of $1.91 billion in an all-cash transaction. This transaction represents the next step in Vista Outdoor’s plan to split the company into separate entities. Cravath is representing Vista Outdoor in connection with the transaction.
Deals & Cases
September 01, 2023
Cravath represented Robinhood Markets, Inc. (“Robinhood”) in its Share Purchase Agreement (the “Share Purchase Agreement”) with the United States Marshals Service (the “USMS”), acting for and on behalf of the United States, pursuant to which Robinhood agreed to purchase 55,273,469 shares of the company’s Class A common stock (the “Shares”) from the USMS for an aggregate purchase price of $605,694,411.59, or approximately $10.96 per share. The transaction closed on August 31, 2023.
Publications
November 22, 2024
Cravath partner John D. Buretta authored a chapter on cooperating with U.S. authorities in Global Investigations Review’s “The Practitioner’s Guide To Global Investigations – Ninth Edition,” which was published on November 13, 2024. The chapter, co‑authored by of counsel Megan Y. Lew and associate Benjamin S. Spiegel, reviews how U.S. government authorities define cooperation, identifies the pros and cons of cooperating with the authorities and highlights special considerations in multi agency and cross border investigations.
Activities
November 14, 2024
On October 24, 2024, Cravath hosted its sixth annual Global Enforcement Forum at its offices in New York. The event brought together investigations and regulatory lawyers from the Firm and leading foreign firms across the globe for a series of panel discussions and roundtables examining significant developments in enforcement.
Publications
September 18, 2024
Cravath partner John D. Buretta authored a chapter on the current issues affecting bribery & corruption practices in the U.S. for The Legal 500’s “Bribery & Corruption Country Comparative Guide,” which was published in June 2024. The chapter, co‑authored by of counsel Megan Y. Lew, reviewed the definition of bribery, recent and emerging trends in investigations and enforcement, the biggest challenges enforcement agencies/regulators face when investigating and prosecuting cases of bribery and corruption, and more.
Publications
July 22, 2024
Cravath partner John D. Buretta authored a chapter on U.S. sanctions and the powers that regulate them for Global Investigations Review’s “The Guide to Sanctions – Fifth Edition,” which was published on June 20, 2024. The chapter, co‑authored by of counsel Megan Y. Lew, reviews the legal framework of economic and trade sanctions in the United States, including how the U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control regulates sanctions and exemptions. The chapter considers implementation, designation process, application and termination of sanctions.
Activities
April 29, 2024
On April 26, 2024, Cravath partners David J. Kappos, John D. Buretta, Noah Joshua Phillips, Sasha Rosenthal‑Larrea, Evan Norris, Michael L. Arnold and Kimberley S. Drexler were named to Lawdragon’s list of “500 Leading Global Cyber Lawyers” in recognition of their work advising clients on corporate governance, investigations and regulatory enforcement, intellectual property and competition matters related to data privacy and cybersecurity. The list recognizes “the legal world’s leading minds in national security” who “connect it all – data and security, innovation and inspiration, litigation and exploration.”
John D. Buretta is Chair of the Investigations and Regulatory Enforcement Practice and a former U.S. Department of Justice official. Named Global Investigations Review’s “Investigations Professional of the Year,” Mr. Buretta represents corporate and individual clients in their most high‑stakes and sensitive internal investigations, regulatory enforcement and compliance matters, shareholder demands and civil litigation.
Described by clients as “an absolute star” who “has the ear of both the US authorities and client boards,” (The Legal 500 US), Mr. Buretta represents global companies, boards of directors, audit committees, individual board members, company owners, senior management, in-house counsels, law firms, and former U.S. and foreign government officials. His work spans industries, including the banking, private investment, energy, publishing, communications, technology, food, consumer, mining, aircraft, automotive, shipping, healthcare and pharmaceutical sectors.
He has represented clients before the Criminal, Antitrust, National Security and Tax Divisions of the Department of Justice (DOJ); U.S. Attorneys’ Offices around the country; the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC); the Commodity Futures Trading Commission; the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation; the Federal Reserve Board of Governors; the Department of Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control; the Department of Commerce’s Bureau of Industry and Security; the Department of State; state Attorneys General and state banking regulators; and non‑U.S. enforcement agencies.
Mr. Buretta has handled a variety of sensitive investigative matters concerning the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA); antitrust laws; securities fraud and disclosure regulations; accounting standards; money laundering and anti-money laundering controls; trade sanctions and export controls; manufacturing integrity and product recalls; the False Claims Act; cyber intrusion; and tax compliance.
Chambers USA states that Mr. Buretta is “calmness personified,” “has a great strategic mind” and is “sought out by corporate clients and their high‑level employees in need of representation in complex government investigations, frequently advising across a range of industry sectors,” ranking him as a leading lawyer in FCPA and White‑Collar Crime & Government Investigations. Chambers Global also recognizes him as a leading global FCPA lawyer. He is recognized as a “National Star” and “Litigation Star” for New York by Benchmark Litigation. The Legal 500 US describes him as “creative, engaged, and incredibly well‑respected by government prosecutors,” and recommended him for his work in white collar criminal defense, antitrust, financial services litigation and securities litigation.
Lawdragon has named Mr. Buretta a nationwide “Legend” and selected him as one of the “500 Leading Lawyers in America,” “500 Leading Litigators in America,” “500 Leading Global Litigators,” and “500 Leading Global Cyber Lawyers.” He is listed as one of the Best Lawyers in America for white collar criminal defense and was named to The Ethisphere Institute’s list of “Attorneys Who Matter,” including as a “Top Gun.” Mr. Buretta is additionally recognized among the leading attorneys in the United States in Euromoney Legal Media Group’s Guide to the World’s Leading White Collar Crime Lawyers and its Best of the Best USA Expert Guide – White Collar Crime.
Mr. Buretta speaks and writes frequently on the topic of regulatory enforcement and compliance. He recently co‑edited Global Investigation Review’s (“GIR”) 2021 “Guide to International Enforcement of the Securities Laws” and the tenth edition of The Cartels and Leniency Review (Law Business Research, 2022), as well as co‑authored chapters in both publications. He edited the eighth edition of Lexology Getting the Deal Through’s “Government Investigations” and authored the Global Overview and the U.S. chapter. Mr. Buretta also authored the U.S. chapter for The Legal 500’s “Bribery & Corruption Comparative Guide,” the “U.S. Sanctions” chapter in GIR’s “The Guide to Sanctions” and the North American Overview and a chapter in GIR’s “The Practitioner’s Guide to Global Investigations.”
Mr. Buretta completed his time at the DOJ as the number‑two ranking official in the Criminal Division as Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General and Chief of Staff. In this role, he oversaw nearly 600 prosecutors on complex matters involving corporate fraud, FCPA, insider trading, healthcare fraud, money laundering, the Bank Secrecy Act, trade sanctions, asset forfeiture, cybercrime, intellectual property theft, public corruption and other criminal investigations, and interacted with the Department’s Antitrust, Civil, Environmental, National Security and Tax Divisions on matters of mutual interest.
Mr. Buretta also served as Deputy Assistant Attorney General (DAAG) for the DOJ Criminal Division, where he oversaw the Criminal Division’s Fraud Section, among others, including the DOJ’s FCPA Unit, and supervised the preparation of the DOJ and SEC’s Resource Guide to the U.S. Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, issued in November 2012. Mr. Buretta also represented the DOJ before Congress and the Sentencing Commission with regard to white collar crime enforcement efforts. In 2011, Mr. Buretta was appointed Director of the Deepwater Horizon Task Force, a position he continued to fill while serving as DAAG.
Prior to joining the Criminal Division, Mr. Buretta served for eight years as an Assistant U.S. Attorney in the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of New York, and was Chief of the Office’s Organized Crime and Racketeering Section from 2008 to 2011. Mr. Buretta also served in the Office’s National Security Section, where he handled investigations under the Anti‑Terrorism Act and Espionage Act, among others. He served as the prosecutor in 10 trials during this time.
During his tenure at the DOJ, Mr. Buretta earned the Department’s highest commendations, including the Attorney General’s Award for Exceptional Service, the Attorney General’s Award for Distinguished Service and the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) Director’s Award for Excellence.
Mr. Buretta has served as an expert witness in foreign proceedings on the subject of U.S. law, policies and practices in enforcement of the FCPA and as to U.S. anti-money laundering laws.
Mr. Buretta has also served as a monitor in separate appointments by the DOJ and by the Department of Transportation (DOT). Mr. Buretta was selected by the DOT’s National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) to serve as the compliance monitor for TK Holdings, Inc. (“Takata”) and numerous affected auto manufacturers as part of a settlement agreement and consolidated remedy order concerning the recall of certain of Takata’s ammonium nitrate airbag inflators. NHTSA has described the recall as the largest and most complex in U.S. history. In January 2021, Mr. Buretta and the NHTSA issued the final annual report on the state of the Takata airbag recalls, marking the conclusion of the monitorship. Mr. Buretta was also appointed by the DOJ to serve as compliance monitor regarding the worldwide operations of Takata Corporation, headquartered in Japan.
Mr. Buretta was born in St. Louis, Missouri, and grew up in Fresno, California. He received a B.A. in 1993 from the University of California at Berkeley. In 1996, he received a J.D. cum laude from Georgetown University Law Center, where he earned the Edward Allen Tamm Award and was Editor‑in‑Chief of the Georgetown Law Journal’s Annual Review of Criminal Procedure.
Mr. Buretta first joined Cravath in 1996 where he was trained as a litigation associate working on private disputes involving securities fraud and complex commercial litigation. Following a one-year clerkship with Hon. Peter K. Leisure of the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York, Mr. Buretta returned to the Firm in 1999. He left the Firm in 2002 and served for over 10 years in the Department of Justice. He rejoined Cravath as a partner in November 2013.
He has represented clients before the Criminal, Antitrust, National Security and Tax Divisions of the Department of Justice (DOJ); U.S. Attorneys’ Offices around the country; the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC); the Commodity Futures Trading Commission; the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation; the Federal Reserve Board of Governors; the Department of Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control; the Department of Commerce’s Bureau of Industry and Security; the Department of State; state Attorneys General and state banking regulators; and non‑U.S. enforcement agencies.
Mr. Buretta has handled a variety of sensitive investigative matters concerning the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA); antitrust laws; securities fraud and disclosure regulations; accounting standards; money laundering and anti-money laundering controls; trade sanctions and export controls; manufacturing integrity and product recalls; the False Claims Act; cyber intrusion; and tax compliance.
Chambers USA states that Mr. Buretta is “calmness personified,” “has a great strategic mind” and is “sought out by corporate clients and their high‑level employees in need of representation in complex government investigations, frequently advising across a range of industry sectors,” ranking him as a leading lawyer in FCPA and White‑Collar Crime & Government Investigations. Chambers Global also recognizes him as a leading global FCPA lawyer. He is recognized as a “National Star” and “Litigation Star” for New York by Benchmark Litigation. The Legal 500 US describes him as “creative, engaged, and incredibly well‑respected by government prosecutors,” and recommended him for his work in white collar criminal defense, antitrust, financial services litigation and securities litigation.
Lawdragon has named Mr. Buretta a nationwide “Legend” and selected him as one of the “500 Leading Lawyers in America,” “500 Leading Litigators in America,” “500 Leading Global Litigators,” and “500 Leading Global Cyber Lawyers.” He is listed as one of the Best Lawyers in America for white collar criminal defense and was named to The Ethisphere Institute’s list of “Attorneys Who Matter,” including as a “Top Gun.” Mr. Buretta is additionally recognized among the leading attorneys in the United States in Euromoney Legal Media Group’s Guide to the World’s Leading White Collar Crime Lawyers and its Best of the Best USA Expert Guide – White Collar Crime.
Mr. Buretta speaks and writes frequently on the topic of regulatory enforcement and compliance. He recently co‑edited Global Investigation Review’s (“GIR”) 2021 “Guide to International Enforcement of the Securities Laws” and the tenth edition of The Cartels and Leniency Review (Law Business Research, 2022), as well as co‑authored chapters in both publications. He edited the eighth edition of Lexology Getting the Deal Through’s “Government Investigations” and authored the Global Overview and the U.S. chapter. Mr. Buretta also authored the U.S. chapter for The Legal 500’s “Bribery & Corruption Comparative Guide,” the “U.S. Sanctions” chapter in GIR’s “The Guide to Sanctions” and the North American Overview and a chapter in GIR’s “The Practitioner’s Guide to Global Investigations.”
Mr. Buretta completed his time at the DOJ as the number‑two ranking official in the Criminal Division as Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General and Chief of Staff. In this role, he oversaw nearly 600 prosecutors on complex matters involving corporate fraud, FCPA, insider trading, healthcare fraud, money laundering, the Bank Secrecy Act, trade sanctions, asset forfeiture, cybercrime, intellectual property theft, public corruption and other criminal investigations, and interacted with the Department’s Antitrust, Civil, Environmental, National Security and Tax Divisions on matters of mutual interest.
Mr. Buretta also served as Deputy Assistant Attorney General (DAAG) for the DOJ Criminal Division, where he oversaw the Criminal Division’s Fraud Section, among others, including the DOJ’s FCPA Unit, and supervised the preparation of the DOJ and SEC’s Resource Guide to the U.S. Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, issued in November 2012. Mr. Buretta also represented the DOJ before Congress and the Sentencing Commission with regard to white collar crime enforcement efforts. In 2011, Mr. Buretta was appointed Director of the Deepwater Horizon Task Force, a position he continued to fill while serving as DAAG.
Prior to joining the Criminal Division, Mr. Buretta served for eight years as an Assistant U.S. Attorney in the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of New York, and was Chief of the Office’s Organized Crime and Racketeering Section from 2008 to 2011. Mr. Buretta also served in the Office’s National Security Section, where he handled investigations under the Anti‑Terrorism Act and Espionage Act, among others. He served as the prosecutor in 10 trials during this time.
During his tenure at the DOJ, Mr. Buretta earned the Department’s highest commendations, including the Attorney General’s Award for Exceptional Service, the Attorney General’s Award for Distinguished Service and the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) Director’s Award for Excellence.
Mr. Buretta has served as an expert witness in foreign proceedings on the subject of U.S. law, policies and practices in enforcement of the FCPA and as to U.S. anti-money laundering laws.
Mr. Buretta has also served as a monitor in separate appointments by the DOJ and by the Department of Transportation (DOT). Mr. Buretta was selected by the DOT’s National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) to serve as the compliance monitor for TK Holdings, Inc. (“Takata”) and numerous affected auto manufacturers as part of a settlement agreement and consolidated remedy order concerning the recall of certain of Takata’s ammonium nitrate airbag inflators. NHTSA has described the recall as the largest and most complex in U.S. history. In January 2021, Mr. Buretta and the NHTSA issued the final annual report on the state of the Takata airbag recalls, marking the conclusion of the monitorship. Mr. Buretta was also appointed by the DOJ to serve as compliance monitor regarding the worldwide operations of Takata Corporation, headquartered in Japan.
Mr. Buretta was born in St. Louis, Missouri, and grew up in Fresno, California. He received a B.A. in 1993 from the University of California at Berkeley. In 1996, he received a J.D. cum laude from Georgetown University Law Center, where he earned the Edward Allen Tamm Award and was Editor‑in‑Chief of the Georgetown Law Journal’s Annual Review of Criminal Procedure.
Mr. Buretta first joined Cravath in 1996 where he was trained as a litigation associate working on private disputes involving securities fraud and complex commercial litigation. Following a one-year clerkship with Hon. Peter K. Leisure of the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York, Mr. Buretta returned to the Firm in 1999. He left the Firm in 2002 and served for over 10 years in the Department of Justice. He rejoined Cravath as a partner in November 2013.
Citizens Budget Commission
Benchmark Litigation
Best Lawyers in America
Chambers Global
Chambers USA
Lawdragon
The Legal 500 US
Attorney General’s Award for Distinguished Service, 2008
Attorney General’s Award for Exceptional Service, 2013
Charles E. Rose Award, Eastern District of New York Association, 2011
FBI Director’s Award for Excellence, 2013
Prosecutor of the Year, Federal Law Enforcement Foundation, 2008
United States Attorney’s Award for Management Excellence, 2009
Deals & Cases
July 09, 2024
On July 1, 2024, Silvergate announced it has agreed to settlements with the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System (“Federal Reserve”), the California Department of Financial Protection and Innovation (“DFPI”) and the Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”). In a statement, Silvergate noted its decision to liquidate voluntarily and without government assistance in March 2023, and that, as of November 2023, all deposits had been repaid to banking customers, soon after which Silvergate ceased banking operations. The announced settlements, which facilitate the surrender of Silvergate’s bank charter, are part of the Bank’s continued orderly wind down and conclude investigations by the Federal Reserve, DFPI, and SEC. Cravath represented Silvergate in connection with the investigations, resulting settlements, and voluntary liquidation.
Deals & Cases
January 11, 2024
AerCap Holdings N.V, the world’s largest commercial aircraft leasing company, which Cravath is representing in connection with U.S. sanctions and export controls matters, has secured over $1.2 billion in related insurance recoveries involving Russian airlines’ refusal to return over 100 aircraft leased from AerCap following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in February 2022. In September 2023, in the first announced insurance settlement of its kind, Cravath represented AerCap in obtaining authorizations from the U.S. Office of Foreign Assets Control (“OFAC”) and the U.S. Department of Commerce’s U.S. Bureau of Industry and Security (“BIS”) for an agreement to enable payment of approximately $645 million to AerCap to resolve claims against certain Russian insurers and airlines as to a substantial number of AerCap aircraft. Cravath also represented AerCap before BIS and OFAC in connection with AerCap’s subsequent, $572 million insurance settlements with Russian insurers and airlines announced in December 2023.
Deals & Cases
December 12, 2023
On December 11, 2023, Star Bulk Carriers Corp. (“Star Bulk”), a global shipping company focusing on the transportation of dry bulk cargoes, and Eagle Bulk Shipping Inc. (“Eagle”), one of the world’s largest owner-operators within the midsize dry bulk vessel segment, announced that the companies have entered into a definitive agreement to combine in an all-stock merger on a Net Asset Value to Net Asset Value (“NAV”) basis with a pro forma market capitalization of approximately $2.1 billion. Under the terms of the agreement, which was unanimously approved by the boards of directors of both companies, Eagle shareholders will receive 2.6211 shares of Star Bulk common stock for each share of Eagle common stock owned. This represents a total consideration of approximately $52.60 per share, a 17% premium based on Eagle’s closing share price of $44.85 on December 8, 2023. Upon the close of the transaction, Star Bulk and Eagle shareholders will own approximately 71% and 29% of the combined company on a fully diluted basis, respectively. Cravath is representing Star Bulk in connection with the transaction.
Deals & Cases
October 16, 2023
On October 16, 2023, Vista Outdoor Inc. (“Vista Outdoor”), the parent company of 41 renowned brands that design, manufacture and market sporting and outdoor products to consumers around the globe, announced a definitive agreement to sell its Sporting Products business to Czechoslovak Group a.s. (“CSG”), a leading industrial technology holding company, for an enterprise value of $1.91 billion in an all-cash transaction. This transaction represents the next step in Vista Outdoor’s plan to split the company into separate entities. Cravath is representing Vista Outdoor in connection with the transaction.
Deals & Cases
September 01, 2023
Cravath represented Robinhood Markets, Inc. (“Robinhood”) in its Share Purchase Agreement (the “Share Purchase Agreement”) with the United States Marshals Service (the “USMS”), acting for and on behalf of the United States, pursuant to which Robinhood agreed to purchase 55,273,469 shares of the company’s Class A common stock (the “Shares”) from the USMS for an aggregate purchase price of $605,694,411.59, or approximately $10.96 per share. The transaction closed on August 31, 2023.
Publications
November 22, 2024
Cravath partner John D. Buretta authored a chapter on cooperating with U.S. authorities in Global Investigations Review’s “The Practitioner’s Guide To Global Investigations – Ninth Edition,” which was published on November 13, 2024. The chapter, co‑authored by of counsel Megan Y. Lew and associate Benjamin S. Spiegel, reviews how U.S. government authorities define cooperation, identifies the pros and cons of cooperating with the authorities and highlights special considerations in multi agency and cross border investigations.
Activities
November 14, 2024
On October 24, 2024, Cravath hosted its sixth annual Global Enforcement Forum at its offices in New York. The event brought together investigations and regulatory lawyers from the Firm and leading foreign firms across the globe for a series of panel discussions and roundtables examining significant developments in enforcement.
Publications
September 18, 2024
Cravath partner John D. Buretta authored a chapter on the current issues affecting bribery & corruption practices in the U.S. for The Legal 500’s “Bribery & Corruption Country Comparative Guide,” which was published in June 2024. The chapter, co‑authored by of counsel Megan Y. Lew, reviewed the definition of bribery, recent and emerging trends in investigations and enforcement, the biggest challenges enforcement agencies/regulators face when investigating and prosecuting cases of bribery and corruption, and more.
Publications
July 22, 2024
Cravath partner John D. Buretta authored a chapter on U.S. sanctions and the powers that regulate them for Global Investigations Review’s “The Guide to Sanctions – Fifth Edition,” which was published on June 20, 2024. The chapter, co‑authored by of counsel Megan Y. Lew, reviews the legal framework of economic and trade sanctions in the United States, including how the U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control regulates sanctions and exemptions. The chapter considers implementation, designation process, application and termination of sanctions.
Activities
April 29, 2024
On April 26, 2024, Cravath partners David J. Kappos, John D. Buretta, Noah Joshua Phillips, Sasha Rosenthal‑Larrea, Evan Norris, Michael L. Arnold and Kimberley S. Drexler were named to Lawdragon’s list of “500 Leading Global Cyber Lawyers” in recognition of their work advising clients on corporate governance, investigations and regulatory enforcement, intellectual property and competition matters related to data privacy and cybersecurity. The list recognizes “the legal world’s leading minds in national security” who “connect it all – data and security, innovation and inspiration, litigation and exploration.”
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