John P. Carlin, recently the top national security attorney in the U.S. Department of Justice, has joined Morrison & Foerster.

Carlin has served as a top-level official in both Republican and Democratic administrations, most recently as the assistant attorney general for the Department’s National Security Division, having been appointed by the President and overwhelmingly confirmed by the Senate.

Previously, he served as chief of staff and senior counsel to Robert S. Mueller, III, former Director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation.

“John led a nationwide outreach campaign focused on raising c-suite awareness of cutting-edge cyber and economic espionage threats during his tenure as a senior administration official,” said Morrison & Foerster chair Larren Nashelsky. “His exceptional blend of experience positions him to lead a strong risk and crisis management practice focused on advising companies responding to global and national security threats. John is the latest key addition to our elite group of litigators with high-level government experience who are meeting the increasingly complex regulatory needs of our clients. We have welcomed to the firm numerous Washington, D.C.-based partners such as Katie Thomson who recently joined us after serving as general counsel of the Department of Transportation and chief counsel of the Federal Aviation Administration, Chuck Duross and James Koukios who also joined us from Department of Justice and Jessie Liu who was an assistant U.S. attorney for the District of Columbia and deputy chief of staff in the Department’s National Security Division.