John D.
Buretta

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 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; tax compliance; and the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA).

Chambers USA states that Mr. Buretta is “calmness personified,” “has a great strategic mind” and uses his “exceptional problem‑solving abilities” as “a trusted adviser in high‑stakes cases,” and ranks him as a leading lawyer in White‑Collar Crime & Government Investigations and FCPA. 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 Mr. Buretta as “creative, engaged, and incredibly well‑respected by government prosecutors,” noting that his work “showcases his ability to get results under intense scrutiny,” and that he has a “knack for seamlessly coordinating with international teams” in cross‑border matters.

Lawdragon has named Mr. Buretta a nationwide “Legend” and selected him as one of the “500 Leading Lawyers in America,” “500 Leading Global Litigators,” and “500 Global Leaders in Crisis Management,” among others. 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‑authored a chapter on cooperating with U.S. authorities in Global Investigations Review’s (“GIR”) Eighth and Ninth Editions of “The Practitioner’s Guide To Global Investigations,” and a chapter on the current issues affecting bribery & corruption practices in the U.S. for The Legal 500’s 2024 “Bribery & Corruption Country Comparative Guide.” Mr. Buretta also co‑authored the “U.S. Sanctions” chapter in GIR’s “The Guide to Sanctions – Fifth Edition.”  

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.