Assistant U.S. Attorney and Former Education Department Deputy General Counsel Joins Sonnenschein's Litigation Practice Group
June 19, 2007
Hiring marks expansion for firm’s new Charlotte office
(CHARLOTTE, N.C./WASHINGTON, June 19, 2007)--National law firm Sonnenschein Nath & Rosenthal LLP today announced that Assistant U.S. Attorney Jonathan A. Vogel has joined the firm as a partner in its Litigation Practice Group. Vogel, who prosecuted white-collar and financial crime cases for the U.S. Department of Justice in the Western District of North Carolina, previously served as deputy general counsel at the U.S. Department of Education for issues affecting the student loan industry. He will practice in Sonnenschein’s new Charlotte, N.C., office, which opened in April, as well as in the firm’s Washington, D.C., office.
“Jonathan’s criminal fraud and education law background adds a new and exciting dimension to Sonnenschein’s already strong government litigation and investigations practice,” said Michael H. Barr, national chair of Sonnenschein’s Litigation Practice Group. “Our clients will be well served by his diverse experience, spanning two branches of federal government and two different departments within the executive branch.”
As an assistant U.S. attorney, Vogel prosecuted cases involving bank fraud, identity theft, health care fraud, obstruction of justice, environmental crime, wire fraud, and mail fraud. While he served as the identity theft coordinator for Charlotte, which is commonly regarded as the nation’s largest banking city after New York, Vogel trained law enforcement officers and prosecuted many identity theft and document fraud cases. In February 2007, he won a trial involving 18 fraud and identity theft charges, including eight charges of aggravated identity theft, against a bank employee accused of defrauding the bank and unlawfully using the identity of a customer whom he was entrusted to help. Vogel also served as the district’s environmental crime coordinator.
As deputy general counsel at the Education Department, Vogel oversaw about two dozen attorneys and support staff in the areas of higher education and regulatory law. In that position, he provided legal counsel to the department’s senior policy makers on the student loan programs. Vogel also made recommendations to the Justice Department regarding the Education Department’s position on higher education cases pending in federal court, including the growing number of False Claims Act qui tam actions being filed against institutions of higher education, particularly career colleges.
Vogel’s earlier government work included serving as counsel to the assistant attorney general of the Civil Rights Division at the Justice Department, providing advice on civil rights litigation and policy, and serving as the Justice Department’s representative to a White House working group on Arab-American public policy concerns in the wake of Sept. 11. Vogel also served as counsel to the Judiciary Committee of the U.S. House of Representatives where he assisted the committee with its investigations and oversight activities.
“With its commitment to expand its government litigation and investigations practice, Sonnenschein recognizes that more and more companies need assistance in responding to an increasing number of government investigations and legal counsel to help them get in, and remain in, compliance with new and complex statutes and regulations,” noted Vogel. “Today, the student loan industry, in particular, is under close scrutiny. As the former top attorney for higher education at the Education Department, I bring to the table substantive knowledge of, and high-level agency experience with, the student loan programs.”
Vogel received a J.D. degree from the Emory University School of Law and, after taking courses in law and government at the London School of Economics and Political Science, he received a B.A. degree from the University of Vermont. He began his legal career as a litigation associate at King & Spalding LLP in Atlanta.
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Media Contact:
Jeff Mutterperl
Sonnenschein Nath & Rosenthal LLP
(212) 398-8470
jmutterperl@sonnenschein.com
