By Madison Arnold
Former US Sen. Doug Jones returned to ArentFox Schiff LLP after his stint as President Joe Biden’s nomination adviser for legislative affairs during the confirmation process of Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson to the US Supreme Court.
The firm announced Jones’ return last week after his temporary leave of absence to advise President Biden as well as help guide Judge Jackson during the lengthy process that included Senate meetings, interviews and confirmation hearings. Jones has since rejoined ArentFox Schiff ‘s government relations and government enforcement and white collar groups.
“Doug is an outstanding and highly regarded attorney and policy advisor, and his long-standing dedication to civil rights and experience on Capitol Hill made him an excellent choice,” said Anthony V. Lupo, chairman of the firm, in a statement. “Congratulations to Judge Jackson on her groundbreaking appointment to the US Supreme Court.”
In his role with ArentFox Schiff, Jones advises clients on public policy and legal matters, particularly in the national security, health care and financial services spaces, the firm said.
He does this work in addition to serving as a distinguished senior fellow at the Center for American Progress, where he works on issues of racial justice and equity, voting rights, and law enforcement reform, the firm said.
Jones represented Alabama in the US Senate from 2018 to 2021. He won a special election against former Alabama Supreme Court Chief Justice Roy Moore in a 2017 special election.
While a senator, Jones served on numerous committees: Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs Committee, Armed Services Committee, Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee and Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee, the firm added.
“Doug is well-respected on both sides of the aisle, and his strong character and experience in the Senate made him an outstanding choice to assist Judge Jackson through the nomination process,” said the firm’s government relations practice co-leader, Jon S. Bouker in a statement.
Jones has had a long legal career that began in 1979 as the staff counsel to the US Senate Judiciary Committee for Sen. Howell Heflin from Alabama, according to his profile on the firm’s website. He then served as an assistant US attorney for four years before entering private practice.
He went back to government work after being nominated by President Bill Clinton and then confirmed in November 1997 to be the US attorney for the Northern District of Alabama, the firm’s announcement said.
The firm’s announcement noted one of Jones’ marquee cases during this tenure was prosecuting Ku Klux Klan members Thomas Edwin Blanton Jr. and Bobby Frank Cherry for their roles in the 1963 bombing of the 16th Street Baptist Church in Birmingham, which left four Black girls dead.
Between his time as a US attorney, which ended in 2001, and being elected a senator, Jones worked in private practice where he handled matters such as white collar, False Claims Act and securities fraud actions, the firm said. His clients included multinational corporations as well as small businesses and individuals, according to the firm.
ArentFox Schiff LLP has more than 600 attorneys and policy professionals and has an international client roster of companies, governments, individuals and trade associations, the firm said.
–Editing by Ellen Johnson.
