Press Release

NEW ORLEANS, Jan. 30, 2012—Jones Walker is pleased to announce that Michael W. Magner has joined the firm’s New Orleans office as special counsel. Mr. Magner practices in the firm's Business & Commercial Litigation Practice Group. His practice focuses on preventive and litigation services for businesses and individuals in corporate and white collar criminal matters. He also represents individuals and companies in connection with grand jury and other investigations.

Mr. Magner’s particular experience is in anti-corruption compliance and litigation matters on both a domestic and international level. He served as a federal prosecutor in New Orleans for 20 years where he was a key member of the team that successfully prosecuted former Louisiana Governor, Edwin Edwards, following a 5 month trial. He was also the lead prosecutor in the Department of Justice’s long term investigation and prosecution of judicial and related public corruption in Jefferson Parish, Louisiana, known as “Operation Wrinkled Robe.” In recognition of his work, Mike was awarded the Department of Justice’s highest award for litigation, the John Marshall Award, as well as the Director’s Award for Superior Performance by a Litigative Team.

Mr. Magner stated, “Joining Jones Walker and being able to work with the Jones Walker white collar team is an exciting opportunity. Their law firm has a number of former U.S. Attorneys and Assistant U.S. Attorneys, all of whom have a stellar reputation in representing clients in the defense of government investigations and prosecutions.”

Mr. Magner has also served as a supervisor of the U.S. Attorney’s Office’s Anti-Terrorism/Crisis Response Unit, Organized Crime Strike Force, and Violent Crime Unit, and has tried over 40 jury trials to verdict in virtually all sections of the United States District Court for the Eastern and Middle Districts of Louisiana. He specialized in long term, complex white collar investigations and trials, including export control, mail and wire fraud, government contract fraud, bribery, money laundering, police misconduct, civil rights violations, and RICO. In 2011, he served as the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s Advisor to the Kenyan Anti-Corruption Commission (“KACC”) in Nairobi, Kenya, where he was embedded in the KACC’s principal headquarters for nearly two months, and provided training to KACC’s investigators, auditors, and attorneys on corruption compliance, investigative, and prosecution matters. He has also trained foreign judges and prosecutors in Central Asia and Africa and has regularly trained federal prosecutors through the Attorney General’s Advocacy Institute.

Before working with the KACC, Mr. Magner was with the U.S. Department of Justice's first Counsel for Emergency Management and Crisis Response in the Office of Director, Executive Office for U.S. Attorneys in Washington, D.C. for 18 months, where he represented the DOJ at various White House level emergency exercises and planning meetings relating to the federal government’s response to major criminal events, natural disasters, and pandemics. While with DOJ, Mike was also selected as a trained evaluator of other U.S. Attorneys’ Offices throughout the country on various substantive legal areas as well as ethics and professionalism.

Mr. Magner received his juris doctor degree from Tulane University School of Law, cum laude, and was Managing Editor of The Maritime Lawyer. His Bachelor of Arts in Political Science/International Relations was earned from The George Washington University.

Jones, Walker, Waechter, Poitevent, Carrère & Denègre L.L.P., with more than 375 attorneys, provides a comprehensive range of legal services to a national and international corporate client base through offices in Alabama, Arizona, the District of Columbia, Florida, Louisiana, Mississippi, and Texas.

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