Larry Thompson (lawyer)

Larry Dean Thompson (born November 15, 1945) is an American lawyer and law professor, who served as Deputy Attorney General of the United States under United States President George W. Bush until August 2003.

Early life and education

Thompson, the son of a railroad laborer, was born and raised in Hannibal, Missouri. He received his bachelor's degree, graduating cum laude, from Culver-Stockton College in 1967, his master's degree from Michigan State University in 1969, and his Juris Doctor (J.D.) from the University of Michigan in 1974.

In 1970, Thompson married Brenda Anne Taggart. They have two sons.

Corporate career

Thompson worked as an industrial relations representative for Ford Motor Company during law school. After graduation he worked as an attorney for Monsanto Company in St. Louis until 1977. That year he joined the law firm of King & Spalding in Atlanta, Georgia. He left the firm in 1982 for four years with the Justice Department as United States Attorney for the Northern District of Georgia, then returned and was made a partner in 1986.

U.S. government service

From 1982 to 1986, he served as U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Georgia, and led the Southeastern Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Force. The New York Times describes him as "a moderate" who is "respected by both Democrats and Republicans."

Independent Counsel

Thompson served as Independent Counsel for the Department of Housing and Urban Development Investigation from 1995[2] to 1998, completing an investigation and prosecution started by Judge Arlin Adams in 1990.[3]

Deputy U.S. Attorney General

In 2001, Thompson was appointed as Deputy U.S. Attorney General by President Bush.[1] At the time of his appointment he was a member of the Federalist Society.[4]

Thompson Memorandum

In January 2003 Thompson issued an internal Justice Department document informally titled the Thompson Memorandum[5] written to help federal prosecutors decide whether to charge a corporation, rather than or in addition to individuals within the corporation, with criminal offenses.[6] The guidelines were considered tough because they require that to claim cooperation, companies must (1) turn over materials from internal investigations, (2) waive attorney–client privilege, and (3) not provide targeted executive with company-paid lawyers.[6] The guidelines were criticized for, among other things, "seriously eroding" attorney-client privilege.[7] These guidelines were "eased" in December 2006 by Deputy Attorney General Paul J. McNulty who issued a revised version of the memorandum.[8]

office	30th United States Deputy Attorney General
president	George W. Bush
term start	May 10, 2001
term end	August 31, 2003
predecessor	Robert Mueller (Acting)
successor	James Comey
office1	United States Attorney for the Northern District of Georgia
president1	Ronald Reagan
term start1	1982
term end1	1986
predecessor1	William Harper
successor1	Bob Barr
birth name	Larry Dean Thompson
birth date	November 15, 1945
birth place	Hannibal, Missouri, U.S.
party	Republican
education	Culver-Stockton College (BA) Michigan State University (MA) University of Michigan (JD)

Larry Thompson (lawyer)

Early life and education

Corporate career

U.S. government service

Independent Counsel

Deputy U.S. Attorney General

Thompson Memorandum

Thompson Memorandum

Career after Department of Justice

See also

External links

References