President
Richard H. Deane, Jr.
Jones Day
Richard H. “Rick” Deane, Jr. is the 75th President of the American College of Trial Lawyers. Rick recently converted to “Of Counsel” with Jones Day after more than twenty years with the Firm as a partner. Prior to joining Jones Day, Rick had a similarly long career in government, serving mainly in the Department of Justice. Rick began his legal career as an Assistant United States Attorney for the Northern District of Georgia, in Atlanta. He served as an AUSA in the Criminal Division of that office. Over that time, he prosecuted all types of federal crimes ranging from various fraud cases, environmental offenses, civil rights violations, and reactive and violent crimes. Rick rose through the ranks of the U.S. Attorney’s office becoming Chief of the General Crimes Section and later Chief of the Criminal Division of that office. In 1994, Rick was appointed as a United States Magistrate Judge for the Northern District of Georgia. He served in that position for approximately five years before he was appointed United States Attorney for the district. Rick was appointed United States Attorney by President Bill Clinton and also served under President George W. Bush.
As United State Attorney, Rick had an active and visible presence in the community. His office focused on gun violence and public corruption. In March 2001, Rick was named by Time Magazine as one of its 100 Innovators for his creative and first-in-the-country use of the federal RICO statute to prosecute defendants involved in child prostitution in metro Atlanta. Rick left the United States Attorney’s office in 2002 and joined Jones Day.
At Jones Day, Rick’s practice has focused on defending companies and executives being investigated by the Justice Department and various other agencies. He also tries various types of civil cases and conducts internal investigations in a variety of different contexts. He has developed particular experience conducting sensitive investigations for major colleges and universities. Rick has also served as the Co-Practice Leader of Jone Day’s Investigations and White Collar Defense practice. Most recently, Rick served as the Partner-In-Charge of the Atlanta office of Jones Day.
Rick graduated with honors from the University of Georgia and went on to attend law school at UGA as an Earl Warren Fellow. Upon graduation from UGA, Rick attended the University of Michigan, School of Law where he obtained an LLM, focusing on constitutional history.
Rick has a long history of community service. He currently serves as the board chair of KIPP Atlanta, a charter school program consisting of 11 schools and serving almost 6,000 students. He also serves on the board and executive committee of the National Center for Civil and Human Rights. Additionally, Rick has served as the President of the National Association of Former United States Attorneys. Rick is quick to acknowledge his immense gratitude to his mentor William L. Harper who hired him as an Assistant United States Attorney and with whom Rick served as a United States Magistrate Judge.