Joon Hyun Kim (born May 26, 1971) is an American attorney who served as the acting

United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York The United States attorney for the Southern District of New York is the United States Attorney, chief federal law enforcement officer in eight contiguous New York counties: the counties (coextensive boroughs of New York City) of New York County, ...

from March 2017 to January 2018. He was Deputy U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York from July 2015 to March 2017 after serving as the chief of the criminal division since July 2014. From April 2013 to July 2014, Kim was the chief counsel to the U.S. Attorney. In March 2021, Kim was chosen by

New York Attorney General The attorney general of New York is the chief legal officer of the U.S. state of New York and head of the Department of Law of the state government. The office has existed in various forms since 1626, originally established under the Dutch c ...

Letitia James Letitia Ann "Tish" James (born October 18, 1958) is an American lawyer and politician serving since 2019 as the 67th Attorney General of New York, attorney general of New York (NYAG), having won the 2018 New York Attorney General election, 2018 ...

independent counsel The Office of Special Counsel was a prosecutorial unit within the United States Department of Justice that operated from 1978 until the expiration of its statutory authority on December 31, 1999. Created by the Ethics in Government Act o ...

, along with Anne L. Clark, to co-lead the investigation into sexual harassment claims made against

New York Governor The governor of New York is the head of government of the U.S. state of New York. The governor is the head of the executive branch of New York's state government and the commander-in-chief of the state's military forces. The governor ha ...

Andrew Cuomo Andrew Mark Cuomo ( , ; born December 6, 1957) is an American politician and lawyer who served as the 56th governor of New York from 2011 until his resignation in 2021. A member of the Democratic Party and son of former governor Mario Cuomo, ...

Education and early career

Kim attended

Phillips Exeter Academy Phillips Exeter Academy (often called Exeter or PEA) is an Independent school, independent, co-educational, college-preparatory school in Exeter, New Hampshire. Established in 1781, it is America's sixth-oldest boarding school and educates an es ...

, where he graduated in 1989, and graduated

Phi Beta Kappa The Phi Beta Kappa Society () is the oldest academic honor society in the United States. It was founded in 1776 at the College of William & Mary in Virginia. Phi Beta Kappa aims to promote and advocate excellence in the liberal arts and sciences, ...

from

Stanford University Leland Stanford Junior University, commonly referred to as Stanford University, is a Private university, private research university in Stanford, California, United States. It was founded in 1885 by railroad magnate Leland Stanford (the eighth ...

in 1993 and graduated ''

cum laude Latin honors are a system of Latin phrases used in some colleges and universities to indicate the level of distinction with which an academic degree has been earned. The system is primarily used in the United States. It is also used in some Sout ...

'' from

Harvard Law School Harvard Law School (HLS) is the law school of Harvard University, a Private university, private research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1817, Harvard Law School is the oldest law school in continuous operation in the United ...

, in 1996. After law school, he clerked for Miriam Goldman Cedarbaum of the Southern District of New York.

Career

U.S. Attorney's office

Kim joined the U.S. Attorney's office for the Southern District of New York in 2000. As an assistant U.S. attorney, he investigated and prosecuted a wide range of federal crimes including racketeering, murder, money laundering, securities fraud, firearms and narcotics offenses, tax evasion, and terrorism. He spent his prior years in the office in the organized crime and terrorism unit, prosecuting violent organized crime syndicates, including Asian gangs and the

Mafia "Mafia", as an informal or general term, is often used to describe criminal organizations that bear a strong similarity to the Sicilian Mafia, original Mafia in Sicily, to the Italian-American Mafia, or to other Organized crime in Italy, organiz ...

. During his tenure, Kim helped secure convictions of a number of high-ranking organized crime figures including

Peter Gotti Peter Arthur Gotti (October 15, 1939 – February 25, 2021) was an American mobster who served as boss of the Gambino crime family of New York following the imprisonment of his younger brother John Gotti. Early life Gotti was born in the Bro ...

, boss of the

Gambino Family Gambino is an Italian surname. Notable persons with that surname include: Surname * (1899–1987), Argentine conductor * Antonella Gambino (born 1990), Argentine handball player * Domenico Gambino (1890–1968), Italian actor, screenwriter, and ...

, for conspiring to kill Salvatore "Sammy the Bull" Gravano.

Private practice

From 2006 to 2013, Kim worked at

Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton LLP Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton LLP (known as Cleary Gottlieb), formerly Cleary, Gottlieb, Friendly & Cox and Cleary, Gottlieb, Friendly, Steen & Hamilton, is an American multinational law firm headquartered at One Liberty Plaza in New York Cit ...

, where he was a partner in the litigation and enforcement group, focusing on white-collar criminal defense, regulatory enforcement, commercial civil litigation and international arbitration.

Return to the U.S. Attorney's office

Kim rejoined the United States Attorney's office for the Southern District of New York as chief counsel in April 2013. After becoming the chief of its criminal division in July 2014, he was promoted to Deputy U.S. Attorney in July 2015. When

Preet Bharara Preetinder Singh Bharara (; born October 13, 1968) is an Indian American lawyer and former federal prosecutor who served as the United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York from 2009 to 2017. As of 2025, he is a partner at the ...

was fired as U.S. Attorney in March 2017, Kim replaced him in an acting capacity, but had to be replaced in January 2018 because of a 300-day limit on acting U.S. attorneys. Kim's term was notable for the continued prosecution of high-profile terrorism cases, pursuing a prison term for

Anthony Weiner Anthony David Weiner ( born September 4, 1964) is an American politician who served as the United States House of Representatives, U.S. representative for from 1999 until his resignation in 2011. A member of the Democratic Party (United States) ...

following his guilty plea to a federal obscenity charge, and for securing the conviction of Mehmet Hakan Atilla, a Turkish banker, on fraud and conspiracy charges in a billion-dollar scheme to help Iran evade American financial sanctions via Turkish banks, despite an investigation of the American prosecutors by the government of Turkey. On November 30, 2017, Kim announced the sentencing of Aharon Goldberg, Shimen Liebowitz and Binyamin Gottlieb, three organizers of the Kiryas Joel murder conspiracy who had tried to force an end to their intended victim's marriage under

Jewish marital law Jews (, , ), or the Jewish people, are an ethnoreligious group and nation, originating from the Israelites of ancient Israel and Judah. They also traditionally adhere to Judaism. Jewish ethnicity, religion, and community are highly inte ...

Return to private practice

In April 2018, Kim returned as a partner at Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton LLP. In coordination with the New York Office of Attorney General, Kim served as an independent investigator into the accusations of sexual assault and harassment against Governor

. The investigation ultimately led to Cuomo resigning from his position as Governor on August 10, 2021.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kim, Joon H. Living people Stanford University alumni Harvard Law School alumni United States attorneys for the Southern District of New York American people of Korean descent Phillips Exeter Academy alumni People associated with Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton 1971 births