Four Decades for Justice
John D. Buretta is Chair of the Investigations and Regulatory Enforcement Practice and a former U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) official. His practice focuses on representing corporations, boards of directors, board members and senior executives with respect to internal investigations, regulatory enforcement and compliance, shareholder demands and civil litigation.
His clients have included global companies, boards of directors, audit committees, individual board members, company owners, senior management of public and private companies, general counsels and other in-house counsel of public companies, law firms, and former U.S. and foreign government officials. Mr. Buretta has worked across many industries, including the banking, private investment, energy, publishing, information, 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 U.S. Department of Justice in Washington, D.C.; numerous United States Attorneys’ Offices around the country; the SEC’s headquarters in Washington, D.C. and various Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) regional offices; the Commodity Futures Trading Commission; the Federal Reserve Board of Governors; the U.S. Department of Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control; the U.S. Department of Commerce’s Bureau of Industry and Security; the U.S. Department of State; state Attorneys General and state banking regulators; and non U.S. enforcement agencies. He 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 (2018‑2023). Chambers Global also recognizes him as a leading global FCPA lawyer (2019‑2023). Mr. Buretta is recognized as a “National Star” and “Local Litigation Star” for New York in the area of white collar crime and investigations by Benchmark Litigation (2016‑2023). Describing him as “sophisticated, sensible and persuasive,” The Legal 500 US has recommended Mr. Buretta for his work in white collar criminal defense (2016‑2023), antitrust (2017), financial services litigation (2017, 2019) and securities litigation (2015‑2017). Mr. Buretta has been selected by Lawdragon as one of “500 Leading Lawyers in America” (2014‑2023) and “500 Leading Litigators in America” (2022), is listed as one of the Best Lawyers in America (2019‑2023) for white collar criminal defense work, was named to The Ethisphere Institute’s list of “Attorneys Who Matter,” including as a “Top Gun,” and is 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 (2016‑2020) and its Best of the Best USA Expert Guide – White Collar Crime (2019, 2021).
Mr. Buretta speaks and writes frequently on the topic of regulatory enforcement and compliance. Most recently, he co‑edited Global Investigation Review’s 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 Global Investigation Review’s “The Guide to Sanctions” and the North American Overview and a chapter in Global Investigation Review’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 Department before Congress and the Sentencing Commission with regard to the Department’s white collar crime enforcement efforts. In 2011, Mr. Buretta was appointed Director of the Deepwater Horizon Task Force, a leadership 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 U.S. Department of Justice and by the U.S. Department of Transportation. In December 2015, Mr. Buretta was selected by the U.S. Department of Transportation’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 U.S. Department of Justice in April 2017 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 U.S. Department of Justice in Washington, D.C.; numerous United States Attorneys’ Offices around the country; the SEC’s headquarters in Washington, D.C. and various Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) regional offices; the Commodity Futures Trading Commission; the Federal Reserve Board of Governors; the U.S. Department of Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control; the U.S. Department of Commerce’s Bureau of Industry and Security; the U.S. Department of State; state Attorneys General and state banking regulators; and non U.S. enforcement agencies. He 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 (2018‑2023). Chambers Global also recognizes him as a leading global FCPA lawyer (2019‑2023). Mr. Buretta is recognized as a “National Star” and “Local Litigation Star” for New York in the area of white collar crime and investigations by Benchmark Litigation (2016‑2023). Describing him as “sophisticated, sensible and persuasive,” The Legal 500 US has recommended Mr. Buretta for his work in white collar criminal defense (2016‑2023), antitrust (2017), financial services litigation (2017, 2019) and securities litigation (2015‑2017). Mr. Buretta has been selected by Lawdragon as one of “500 Leading Lawyers in America” (2014‑2023) and “500 Leading Litigators in America” (2022), is listed as one of the Best Lawyers in America (2019‑2023) for white collar criminal defense work, was named to The Ethisphere Institute’s list of “Attorneys Who Matter,” including as a “Top Gun,” and is 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 (2016‑2020) and its Best of the Best USA Expert Guide – White Collar Crime (2019, 2021).
Mr. Buretta speaks and writes frequently on the topic of regulatory enforcement and compliance. Most recently, he co‑edited Global Investigation Review’s 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 Global Investigation Review’s “The Guide to Sanctions” and the North American Overview and a chapter in Global Investigation Review’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 Department before Congress and the Sentencing Commission with regard to the Department’s white collar crime enforcement efforts. In 2011, Mr. Buretta was appointed Director of the Deepwater Horizon Task Force, a leadership 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 U.S. Department of Justice and by the U.S. Department of Transportation. In December 2015, Mr. Buretta was selected by the U.S. Department of Transportation’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 U.S. Department of Justice in April 2017 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
Ethisphere Institute’s “Attorneys Who Matter” (2017-2014)
Euromoney Legal Media Group’s Expert Guides
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
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.
Deals & Cases
August 04, 2023
On August 3, 2023, Hasbro, Inc., a leading toy and game company, announced that it has reached a definitive agreement to sell its eOne film and TV business to Lionsgate for approximately $500 million, consisting of $375 million in cash, subject to certain purchase price adjustments, and the assumption by Lionsgate of production financing loans. Cravath is representing Hasbro in connection with the transaction.
Deals & Cases
April 26, 2023
On April 25, 2023, Cravath client British American Tobacco p.l.c. (“BAT”) announced it has reached agreement with the U.S. Department of Justice (“DOJ”) and U.S. Department of Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (“OFAC”) to resolve previously disclosed investigations into suspicions of sanctions breaches.
Deals & Cases
November 29, 2022
On November 22, 2022, Cravath client Goldman Sachs Asset Management, L.P. (“GSAM”) reached a settlement with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission addressing historical policies and procedures related to three of GSAM Fundamental Equity group’s ESG investment portfolios. As part of the no‑admit, no‑deny settlement, GSAM agreed to pay $4 million as a civil money penalty.
Deals & Cases
October 02, 2022
On October 1, 2022, RWE AG (“RWE”), a leading renewable energy company, signed a purchase agreement with Con Edison, Inc. to acquire all shares in Con Edison Clean Energy Businesses, Inc., a leading operator and developer of renewable energy plants in the United States, for a purchase price based on an enterprise value of $6.8 billion. Cravath is representing RWE, alongside Hengeler Mueller, in connection with the transaction.
Accolades
September 18, 2023
In September 2023, Cravath’s Investigations and Regulatory Enforcement Practice was recognized among the finalists in three categories as part of Global Investigations Review’s ninth annual GIR Awards, which recognize “the people and firms behind the investigations and court cases that have impressed the most in the past year.”
Activities & Publications
August 22, 2023
Cravath partner John D. Buretta served as contributing editor of Lexology Getting The Deal Through’s “Government Investigations 2024” guide, which was published in July 2023 and serves as a reference tool for corporate entities facing civil and criminal investigations across different global jurisdictions. John also served as a contributor to the U.S. chapter, which provides an overview of investigations by enforcement agencies in the United States from initiation to resolution. Of counsel Megan Lew also contributed to the guide.
Activities & Publications
August 02, 2023
On August 1, 2023, Cravath prepared a memo for its clients entitled “SEC Adopts Cybersecurity Disclosure Rules for Public Companies.” The memo examines the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission’s recently adopted final rules regarding disclosure by public companies, including foreign private issuers, of cybersecurity risk management, strategy, governance and related incidents. The final rules will significantly expand public companies’ reporting obligations with respect to cybersecurity matters. The memo outlines the new reporting requirements, timeline for compliance and next steps for companies to consider as they evaluate their existing cybersecurity policies and procedures.
Activities & Publications
March 02, 2023
Cravath partner John D. Buretta served as a co-editor of the Eleventh Edition of The Cartels and Leniency Review, which was published by Law Business Research in February 2023. In addition to serving as a co-editor of the publication, John co-authored the Editors’ Preface and the United States chapter, which reviews U.S. specific antitrust provisions that prohibit cartel activity, the types of agreements prohibited, how illegal cartel conduct is detected, leniency programs and penalties.
Activities & Publications
January 10, 2023
Cravath partner John D. Buretta authored a chapter on cooperating with U.S. authorities during a government investigation in Global Investigations Review’s seventh edition of “The Practitioner’s Guide to Global Investigations,” which published in January 2023.
John D. Buretta is Chair of the Investigations and Regulatory Enforcement Practice and a former U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) official. His practice focuses on representing corporations, boards of directors, board members and senior executives with respect to internal investigations, regulatory enforcement and compliance, shareholder demands and civil litigation.
His clients have included global companies, boards of directors, audit committees, individual board members, company owners, senior management of public and private companies, general counsels and other in-house counsel of public companies, law firms, and former U.S. and foreign government officials. Mr. Buretta has worked across many industries, including the banking, private investment, energy, publishing, information, 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 U.S. Department of Justice in Washington, D.C.; numerous United States Attorneys’ Offices around the country; the SEC’s headquarters in Washington, D.C. and various Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) regional offices; the Commodity Futures Trading Commission; the Federal Reserve Board of Governors; the U.S. Department of Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control; the U.S. Department of Commerce’s Bureau of Industry and Security; the U.S. Department of State; state Attorneys General and state banking regulators; and non U.S. enforcement agencies. He 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 (2018‑2023). Chambers Global also recognizes him as a leading global FCPA lawyer (2019‑2023). Mr. Buretta is recognized as a “National Star” and “Local Litigation Star” for New York in the area of white collar crime and investigations by Benchmark Litigation (2016‑2023). Describing him as “sophisticated, sensible and persuasive,” The Legal 500 US has recommended Mr. Buretta for his work in white collar criminal defense (2016‑2023), antitrust (2017), financial services litigation (2017, 2019) and securities litigation (2015‑2017). Mr. Buretta has been selected by Lawdragon as one of “500 Leading Lawyers in America” (2014‑2023) and “500 Leading Litigators in America” (2022), is listed as one of the Best Lawyers in America (2019‑2023) for white collar criminal defense work, was named to The Ethisphere Institute’s list of “Attorneys Who Matter,” including as a “Top Gun,” and is 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 (2016‑2020) and its Best of the Best USA Expert Guide – White Collar Crime (2019, 2021).
Mr. Buretta speaks and writes frequently on the topic of regulatory enforcement and compliance. Most recently, he co‑edited Global Investigation Review’s 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 Global Investigation Review’s “The Guide to Sanctions” and the North American Overview and a chapter in Global Investigation Review’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 Department before Congress and the Sentencing Commission with regard to the Department’s white collar crime enforcement efforts. In 2011, Mr. Buretta was appointed Director of the Deepwater Horizon Task Force, a leadership 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 U.S. Department of Justice and by the U.S. Department of Transportation. In December 2015, Mr. Buretta was selected by the U.S. Department of Transportation’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 U.S. Department of Justice in April 2017 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 U.S. Department of Justice in Washington, D.C.; numerous United States Attorneys’ Offices around the country; the SEC’s headquarters in Washington, D.C. and various Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) regional offices; the Commodity Futures Trading Commission; the Federal Reserve Board of Governors; the U.S. Department of Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control; the U.S. Department of Commerce’s Bureau of Industry and Security; the U.S. Department of State; state Attorneys General and state banking regulators; and non U.S. enforcement agencies. He 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 (2018‑2023). Chambers Global also recognizes him as a leading global FCPA lawyer (2019‑2023). Mr. Buretta is recognized as a “National Star” and “Local Litigation Star” for New York in the area of white collar crime and investigations by Benchmark Litigation (2016‑2023). Describing him as “sophisticated, sensible and persuasive,” The Legal 500 US has recommended Mr. Buretta for his work in white collar criminal defense (2016‑2023), antitrust (2017), financial services litigation (2017, 2019) and securities litigation (2015‑2017). Mr. Buretta has been selected by Lawdragon as one of “500 Leading Lawyers in America” (2014‑2023) and “500 Leading Litigators in America” (2022), is listed as one of the Best Lawyers in America (2019‑2023) for white collar criminal defense work, was named to The Ethisphere Institute’s list of “Attorneys Who Matter,” including as a “Top Gun,” and is 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 (2016‑2020) and its Best of the Best USA Expert Guide – White Collar Crime (2019, 2021).
Mr. Buretta speaks and writes frequently on the topic of regulatory enforcement and compliance. Most recently, he co‑edited Global Investigation Review’s 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 Global Investigation Review’s “The Guide to Sanctions” and the North American Overview and a chapter in Global Investigation Review’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 Department before Congress and the Sentencing Commission with regard to the Department’s white collar crime enforcement efforts. In 2011, Mr. Buretta was appointed Director of the Deepwater Horizon Task Force, a leadership 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 U.S. Department of Justice and by the U.S. Department of Transportation. In December 2015, Mr. Buretta was selected by the U.S. Department of Transportation’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 U.S. Department of Justice in April 2017 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
Ethisphere Institute’s “Attorneys Who Matter” (2017-2014)
Euromoney Legal Media Group’s Expert Guides
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
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.
Deals & Cases
August 04, 2023
On August 3, 2023, Hasbro, Inc., a leading toy and game company, announced that it has reached a definitive agreement to sell its eOne film and TV business to Lionsgate for approximately $500 million, consisting of $375 million in cash, subject to certain purchase price adjustments, and the assumption by Lionsgate of production financing loans. Cravath is representing Hasbro in connection with the transaction.
Deals & Cases
April 26, 2023
On April 25, 2023, Cravath client British American Tobacco p.l.c. (“BAT”) announced it has reached agreement with the U.S. Department of Justice (“DOJ”) and U.S. Department of Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (“OFAC”) to resolve previously disclosed investigations into suspicions of sanctions breaches.
Deals & Cases
November 29, 2022
On November 22, 2022, Cravath client Goldman Sachs Asset Management, L.P. (“GSAM”) reached a settlement with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission addressing historical policies and procedures related to three of GSAM Fundamental Equity group’s ESG investment portfolios. As part of the no‑admit, no‑deny settlement, GSAM agreed to pay $4 million as a civil money penalty.
Deals & Cases
October 02, 2022
On October 1, 2022, RWE AG (“RWE”), a leading renewable energy company, signed a purchase agreement with Con Edison, Inc. to acquire all shares in Con Edison Clean Energy Businesses, Inc., a leading operator and developer of renewable energy plants in the United States, for a purchase price based on an enterprise value of $6.8 billion. Cravath is representing RWE, alongside Hengeler Mueller, in connection with the transaction.
Accolades
September 18, 2023
In September 2023, Cravath’s Investigations and Regulatory Enforcement Practice was recognized among the finalists in three categories as part of Global Investigations Review’s ninth annual GIR Awards, which recognize “the people and firms behind the investigations and court cases that have impressed the most in the past year.”
Activities & Publications
August 22, 2023
Cravath partner John D. Buretta served as contributing editor of Lexology Getting The Deal Through’s “Government Investigations 2024” guide, which was published in July 2023 and serves as a reference tool for corporate entities facing civil and criminal investigations across different global jurisdictions. John also served as a contributor to the U.S. chapter, which provides an overview of investigations by enforcement agencies in the United States from initiation to resolution. Of counsel Megan Lew also contributed to the guide.
Activities & Publications
August 02, 2023
On August 1, 2023, Cravath prepared a memo for its clients entitled “SEC Adopts Cybersecurity Disclosure Rules for Public Companies.” The memo examines the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission’s recently adopted final rules regarding disclosure by public companies, including foreign private issuers, of cybersecurity risk management, strategy, governance and related incidents. The final rules will significantly expand public companies’ reporting obligations with respect to cybersecurity matters. The memo outlines the new reporting requirements, timeline for compliance and next steps for companies to consider as they evaluate their existing cybersecurity policies and procedures.
Activities & Publications
March 02, 2023
Cravath partner John D. Buretta served as a co-editor of the Eleventh Edition of The Cartels and Leniency Review, which was published by Law Business Research in February 2023. In addition to serving as a co-editor of the publication, John co-authored the Editors’ Preface and the United States chapter, which reviews U.S. specific antitrust provisions that prohibit cartel activity, the types of agreements prohibited, how illegal cartel conduct is detected, leniency programs and penalties.
Activities & Publications
January 10, 2023
Cravath partner John D. Buretta authored a chapter on cooperating with U.S. authorities during a government investigation in Global Investigations Review’s seventh edition of “The Practitioner’s Guide to Global Investigations,” which published in January 2023.
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