Manhattan U.S. Attorney Announces The Appointment Of Chief Counsel

Preet Bharara, the United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, today announced the appointment of Joon H. Kim as the Office’s Chief Counsel.

Mr. Kim returns to the U.S. Attorney’s Office from Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton LLP, where he has been a partner in the litigation and enforcement group. At Cleary Gottlieb, which Mr. Kim rejoined in 2006 and where he also worked as an associate from 1997 to 2000, Mr. Kim’s practice has focused on white-collar criminal defense and regulatory enforcement, as well as commercial civil litigation and international arbitration. He has also represented corporations and individuals in a wide range of investigations and disputes, including matters involving securities fraud, insider trading, accounting fraud, antitrust violations and corruption.

From 2000 to 2006, Mr. Kim was an Assistant U.S. Attorney in the Southern District, where he investigated and prosecuted a variety of crimes, including racketeering, murder, money laundering, securities fraud, firearms and narcotics offenses, tax evasion, and terrorism. He spent his last four years in the Office in the Organized Crime and Terrorism Unit, prosecuting violent organized crime syndicates, including Asian gangs and the Mafia. During his tenure, Mr. Kim convicted a number of high-ranking organized crime figures, including Peter Gotti, then Boss of the Gambino Family, for conspiring to kill Salvatore “Sammy the Bull” Gravano.

Mr. Kim graduated Phi Beta Kappa from Stanford University in 1993 and graduated cum laude from Harvard Law School in 1996. After law school, he clerked for the Honorable Miriam Goldman Cedarbaum of the Southern District of New York until 1997.

In making the appointment, Manhattan U.S Attorney Preet Bharara said: “I am thrilled to welcome Joon back to the Office, where we will be lucky to have his smart and thoughtful judgment. I am confident that his rigor and intellect will enormously benefit the people of the Southern District of New York.”