Dorothy Ames Jeffress, known as Amy Jeffress, is an attorney and former public official in the United States. She is a partner at the law firm

Arnold & Porter Arnold & Porter Kaye Scholer LLP, doing business as Arnold & Porter, is an American multinational law firm. It is a white-shoe firm and among the largest law firms in the world, both by revenue and by number of lawyers. Arnold & Porter was f ...

Early life and education

Jeffress is the daughter of William H. Jeffress Jr., a prominent

Washington Washington most commonly refers to: * George Washington (1732–1799), the first president of the United States * Washington (state), a state in the Pacific Northwest of the United States * Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States ** A ...

defense attorney, and Judith Jeffress, a social worker. Jeffress graduated from

Williams College Williams College is a Private college, private liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college in Williamstown, Massachusetts, United States. It was established as a men's college in 1793 with funds from the estate of Ephraim ...

and obtained a

master's degree A master's degree (from Latin ) is a postgraduate academic degree awarded by universities or colleges upon completion of a course of study demonstrating mastery or a high-order overview of a specific field of study or area of professional prac ...

in political science from the

Free University of Berlin The Free University of Berlin (, often abbreviated as FU Berlin or simply FU) is a public university, public research university in Berlin, Germany. It was founded in West Berlin in 1948 with American support during the early Cold War period a ...

. She completed her

Juris Doctor A Juris Doctor, Doctor of Jurisprudence, or Doctor of Law (JD) is a graduate-entry professional degree that primarily prepares individuals to practice law. In the United States and the Philippines, it is the only qualifying law degree. Other j ...

degree at

Yale Law School Yale Law School (YLS) is the law school of Yale University, a Private university, private research university in New Haven, Connecticut. It was established in 1824. The 2020–21 acceptance rate was 4%, the lowest of any law school in the United ...

. She worked as a law clerk for Judge

Gerhard Gesell Gerhard Alden Gesell (June 16, 1910 – February 19, 1993) was a United States district judge of the United States District Court for the District of Columbia. Education and career Born in Los Angeles, California, Gesell received a Bachelor of ...

, and then, following his death in 1993, completed her clerkship with Judge Thomas F. Hogan.

Career

During the

Clinton administration Bill Clinton's tenure as the 42nd president of the United States began with his first inauguration on January 20, 1993, and ended on January 20, 2001. Clinton, a Democrat from Arkansas, took office following his victory over Republican in ...

, Jeffress worked for the

U.S. Department of Justice The United States Department of Justice (DOJ), also known as the Justice Department, is a federal executive department of the U.S. government that oversees the domestic enforcement of federal laws and the administration of justice. It is equi ...

(DOJ) as a prosecutor. She worked as a national security counselor to Attorney General

Eric Holder Eric Himpton Holder Jr. (born January 21, 1951) is an American lawyer who served as the 82nd United States attorney general from 2009 to 2015. A member of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party, Holder was the first African Ameri ...

and then as the Justice department attache at the

U.S. embassy in London The Embassy of the United States of America in London is the diplomatic mission of the United States in the United Kingdom. Its office is located in Nine Elms and is the largest American embassy in Western Europe and the focal point for events ...

for three years. During her tenure as a national security prosecutor at the DOJ, she consulted with U.S. District Judge

Royce Lamberth Royce Charles Lamberth (; born July 16, 1943) is a senior judge of the United States District Court for the District of Columbia, who formerly served as its chief judge. Since 2015, he has sat as a visiting judge on the United States District C ...

, who then agreed in 2008 to unseal documents from the FBI investigation into the

2001 anthrax attacks The 2001 anthrax attacks, also known as Amerithrax (a portmanteau of "United States, America" and "anthrax", from its FBI case name), occurred in the United States over the course of several weeks beginning on September 18, 2001, one week after th ...

. As an advisor to Holder, she created interagency task forces to review the cases of detainees at the

Guantanamo Bay detention camp The Guantanamo Bay detention camp, also known as GTMO ( ), GITMO ( ), or simply Guantanamo Bay, is a United States military prison within Naval Station Guantanamo Bay (NSGB), on the coast of Guantánamo Bay, Cuba. It was established in 2002 by p ...

. In 2014, Jeffress joined the law firm

as a partner, with a focus on criminal defense, national security law, and white collar business practices. In November 2015, she was also appointed as a public advocate at the

Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court The United States Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court (FISC), also called the FISA Court, is a U.S. federal court established under the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act of 1978 (FISA) to oversee requests for surveillance warrants ag ...

(FISC). As a public advocate, she contributed as an

amicus curae An amicus curiae (; ) is an individual or organization that is not a party to a legal case, but that is permitted to assist a court by offering information, expertise, or insight that has a bearing on the issues in the case. Whether an ''amicu ...

after being asked to examine intelligence gathering and retention practices by national security agencies and the

FBI The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) is the domestic Intelligence agency, intelligence and Security agency, security service of the United States and Federal law enforcement in the United States, its principal federal law enforcement ag ...

, and she wrote the FBI practices "go far beyond the purpose for which the Section 702-acquired information is collected in permitting queries that are unrelated to national security" and "These practices do not comply with ... the Fourth Amendment." In 2016, Jeffress participated in the

mock trial A mock trial is an act or imitation trial. It is similar to a moot court, but mock trials simulate lower-court trials, while moot court simulates appellate court hearings. Attorneys preparing for a real trial might use a mock trial consisti ...

of ''Winston vs. Oceania'', based on the

George Orwell Eric Arthur Blair (25 June 1903 – 21 January 1950) was an English novelist, poet, essayist, journalist, and critic who wrote under the pen name of George Orwell. His work is characterised by lucid prose, social criticism, opposition to a ...

novel

1984 Events January * January 1 – The Bornean Sultanate of Brunei gains full independence from the United Kingdom, having become a British protectorate in 1888. * January 7 – Brunei becomes the sixth member of the Association of Southeas ...

, which aired on

C-SPAN Cable-Satellite Public Affairs Network (C-SPAN ) is an American Cable television in the United States, cable and Satellite television in the United States, satellite television network, created in 1979 by the cable television industry as a Non ...

. In 2018, Jeffress represented

Lisa Page The following is a list of controversies involving the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI). Throughout its history, the FBI has been the subject of a number of controversial cases, both at home and abroad. Files on U.S. citizens The FBI has m ...

. In 2020 and 2021, Jeffress represented Anne Sacoolas, the wife of a U.S. diplomat involved in a fatal car crash in the United Kingdom. In 2025, former president Joe Biden appointed Jeffress as his personal attorney, replacing Bob Bauer.

Honors and awards

* 2006 Attorney General's John Marshall Award

Personal life

Her brother Jonathan Jeffress has worked for the Office of the Federal Public Defender. Jeffress is married to

Christopher R. Cooper Christopher Reid "Casey" Cooper (born September 2, 1966) is an American lawyer who serves as a United States district judge of the United States District Court for the District of Columbia. Early life and education Cooper was born in Mobile, Alab ...

, Judge of the

United States District Court for the District of Columbia The United States District Court for the District of Columbia (in case citations, D.D.C.) is a United States district court, federal district court in Washington, D.C. Along with the United States District Court for the District of Hawaii and ...

Merrick Garland Merrick Brian Garland (born November 13, 1952) is an American lawyer and jurist who served as the 86th United States attorney general from 2021 to 2025. He previously served as a circuit judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Dist ...

officiated at their wedding.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Jeffress, Amy Year of birth missing (living people) Living people Williams College alumni Free University of Berlin alumni Yale Law School alumni 21st-century American lawyers 21st-century American women lawyers Law clerks United States Department of Justice lawyers Arnold & Porter people