Sally Q. Yates

Former Deputy Attorney General Sally Yates leads the firm's Crisis Management practice. Sally’s deep experience provides clients with seasoned judgment  in high-stakes matters, including government enforcement and regulatory matters, congressional investigations, internal investigations, compliance, corporate governance and crisis management.  "She is the finest lawyer and counselor I've ever met, who has stared down some of our biggest threats and challenges with unbelievable wisdom and grace. She is able to speak truth to power in situations where it is very difficult but ultimately where she is so consistent in encouraging leaders to pursue a path that is going to make their business or their strategy much stronger." Chambers USA.

Sally is consistently ranked Band One by Chambers USA in both White Collar Investigations and Defense and Crisis Management: "I don't think there's a better lawyer leader in the planet than Sally Yates."  "Sally is brilliant, brave, innovative and a team leader. If it's high-stakes, go to Sally Yates."

As the second-highest ranking official at the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) and as Acting Attorney General, Sally was responsible for all of DOJ’s 113,000 employees including all prosecutorial, litigating, and national security components. 

An accomplished trial lawyer and Fellow in the American College of Trial Lawyers, Sally has tried numerous high-profile cases.

A 27-year veteran of DOJ, Sally rose through the ranks of Assistant United States Attorneys to become U.S. Attorney in Atlanta, Deputy Attorney General and Acting Attorney General. As Deputy Attorney General from 2015 through 2017, Sally was responsible for crafting and implementing initiatives focused on many of DOJ’s priorities, including corporate fraud, cybercrime, gang violence, civil rights, and financial crime. She led DOJ’s criminal justice reform efforts and implemented substantial prison reform measures.

Prior to becoming Deputy Attorney General, Sally was the first woman to serve as U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Georgia. During her five years as the chief federal law enforcement official for the district, she oversaw the prosecution of all federal crimes and the litigation of civil matters and immediately became a leader in the Department as Vice Chair of the Attorney General’s Advisory Committee (AGAC), which guides DOJ’s strategies and policy decisions.

She has tried numerous white collar and public corruption cases, and she was the lead prosecutor of Olympic bomber Eric Rudolph. 

Sally has served as a Visiting Distinguished Lecturer at Georgetown University Law Center and is currently a member of the Board of Directors of Project Healthy Minds, the National Security Reform Commission, and the Bondurant Center for Constitutional Law.