Steven Paul Croley is an American lawyer, Chief Policy Officer and General Counsel of Ford Motor Company and the Harry Burns Hutchins Collegiate Professor of Law at the

University of Michigan Law School The University of Michigan Law School (Michigan Law) is the law school of the University of Michigan, a public research university in Ann Arbor, Michigan. Founded in 1859, the school offers Master of Laws (LLM), Master of Comparative Law (MC ...

in Ann Arbor (on leave since 2010). His practice areas include law reform, legal policy, regulation, oversight, and political law, with special emphasis on energy and the environment. His academic research and writing focus on

administrative law Administrative law is the division of law that governs the activities of executive branch agencies of government. Administrative law concerns executive branch rule making (executive branch rules are generally referred to as " regulations"), ...

civil procedure Civil procedure is the body of law that sets out the rules and standards that courts follow when adjudicating civil lawsuits (as opposed to procedures in criminal law matters). These rules govern how a lawsuit or case may be commenced; what ki ...

, good government, and

regulatory policy Policy is a deliberate system of guidelines to guide decisions and achieve rational outcomes. A policy is a statement of intent and is implemented as a procedure or protocol. Policies are generally adopted by a governance body within an organ ...

.Bio: Steven P. Croley
University of Michigan Law School. Croley joined

Latham & Watkins Latham & Watkins LLP is an American multinational law firm. Founded in 1934 in Los Angeles, California, Latham is the second-largest law firm in the world by revenue. As of 2021, Latham is also one of the most profitable law firms in the world ...

in 2017, following seven years holding senior positions in the Obama Administration. He was sworn in as General Counsel of the

United States Department of Energy The United States Department of Energy (DOE) is an executive department of the U.S. federal government that oversees U.S. national energy policy and manages the research and development of nuclear power and nuclear weapons in the United Stat ...

on May 21, 2014 (having been nominated on August 1, 2013), and served in that role till January 19, 2017. Prior to joining the Department of Energy, he served in the Office of White House Counsel. From 2012–2014, he served as Deputy Assistant and Deputy Counsel to the President for legal policy, and from 2011 to 2012 as Senior Counsel to the President. He oversaw a legal team handling a wide range of domestic legal issues, including energy. From 2010 to 2011, he served as Special Assistant to the President for Justice & Regulatory Policy on the White House Domestic Policy Council. On the Domestic Policy Council, Croley had a "broad portfolio including good government and

transparency Transparency, transparence or transparent most often refer to: * Transparency (optics), the physical property of allowing the transmission of light through a material They may also refer to: Literal uses * Transparency (photography), a still ...

issues,

civil rights Civil and political rights are a class of rights that protect individuals' freedom from infringement by governments, social organizations, and private individuals. They ensure one's entitlement to participate in the civil and political life ...

food safety Food safety (or food hygiene) is used as a scientific method/discipline describing handling, food processing, preparation, and food storage, storage of food in ways that prevent foodborne illness, food-borne illness. The occurrence of two or ...

, and

criminal justice Criminal justice is the delivery of justice to those who have been accused of committing crimes. The criminal justice system is a series of government agencies and institutions. Goals include the rehabilitation of offenders, preventing other ...

policy."Jason Horowitz
Over a barrel? Meet White House gun policy adviser Steve Croley
''Washington Post'' (April 11, 2011). Croley was also appointed by the President Obama to serve as a Council Member of the

Administrative Conference of the United States The Administrative Conference of the United States (ACUS) is an independent agency of the United States government that was established in 1964 by the Administrative Conference Act. The conference's purpose is to "promote improvements in the effi ...

. He has been described as having "a genius for regulatory law."

Early life and education

Croley was born and raised in

Mid-Michigan Central Michigan, also called Mid Michigan, is a region in the Lower Peninsula of the U.S. state of Michigan. As its name implies, it is the middle area of the Lower Peninsula. Lower Michigan is said to resemble a mitten, and Mid Michigan corre ...

, where he attended public schools. He earned his A.B. ''

summa 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 So ...

'' and

Phi Beta Kappa The Phi Beta Kappa Society () is the oldest academic honor society in the United States, and the most prestigious, due in part to its long history and academic selectivity. Phi Beta Kappa aims to promote and advocate excellence in the liberal a ...

from the

University of Michigan , mottoeng = "Arts, Knowledge, Truth" , former_names = Catholepistemiad, or University of Michigania (1817–1821) , budget = $10.3 billion (2021) , endowment = $17 billion (2021)As o ...

, where he was a James B. Angell Scholar and won the William Jennings Bryan Prize, in 1988. Croley then earned his J.D. from

Yale Law School Yale Law School (Yale Law or YLS) is the law school of Yale University, a private research university in New Haven, Connecticut. It was established in 1824 and has been ranked as the best law school in the United States by '' U.S. News & Worl ...

in 1991, where he was an articles editor of the ''

Yale Law Journal The ''Yale Law Journal'' (YLJ), known also as the ''Yale Law Review'', is a student-run law review affiliated with the Yale Law School. Published continuously since 1891, it is the most widely known of the eight law reviews published by students ...

'', was a John M. Olin student fellow, and won the John M. Olin Prize and Benjamin Scharps Prize. Croley served as a

law clerk A law clerk or a judicial clerk is a person, generally someone who provides direct counsel and assistance to a lawyer or judge by researching issues and drafting legal opinions for cases before the court. Judicial clerks often play significant ...

for Judge Stephen F. Williams of the

U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit The United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit (in case citations, D.C. Cir.) is one of the thirteen United States Courts of Appeals. It has the smallest geographical jurisdiction of any of the U.S. federal appellate cou ...

from 1991 to 1992. Croley attended

graduate school Postgraduate or graduate education refers to academic or professional degrees, certificates, diplomas, or other qualifications pursued by post-secondary students who have earned an undergraduate (bachelor's) degree. The organization and st ...

Princeton University Princeton University is a private research university in Princeton, New Jersey. Founded in 1746 in Elizabeth as the College of New Jersey, Princeton is the fourth-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and one of the n ...

, where he was a University Fellow and earned an M.A. in 1994 and a Ph.D. in American politics in 1998.

Scholarship

Croley began his teaching career at the

in 1993 and was granted tenure in 1998. From 2003 to 2006, he served as the associate dean for academic affairs. At Michigan Law, Croley has taught classes in administrative law,

torts A tort is a civil wrong that causes a claimant to suffer loss or harm, resulting in legal liability for the person who commits the tortious act. Tort law can be contrasted with criminal law, which deals with criminal wrongs that are punishabl ...

, civil procedure,

collective action Collective action refers to action taken together by a group of people whose goal is to enhance their condition and achieve a common objective. It is a term that has formulations and theories in many areas of the social sciences including psych ...

, banking law, energy law, and

regulation Regulation is the management of complex systems according to a set of rules and trends. In systems theory, these types of rules exist in various fields of biology Biology is the scientific study of life. It is a natural science with a ...

, suits against the state,

civil justice Civil law is a major branch of the law.Glanville Williams. '' Learning the Law''. Eleventh Edition. Stevens. 1982. p. 2. In common law legal systems such as England and Wales and the United States, the term refers to non-criminal law. The l ...

, good government, and

law and economics Law and economics, or economic analysis of law, is the application of microeconomic theory to the analysis of law, which emerged primarily from scholars of the Chicago school of economics. Economic concepts are used to explain the effects of la ...

of regulated industries. Croley is the author of ''Civil Justice Reconsidered: Towards a Less Costly, More Accessible Civil Litigation System'' (New York University Press, 2017), and of ''Regulation and Public Interests: The Possibility of Good Regulatory Government'' (

Princeton University Press Princeton University Press is an independent Academic publishing, publisher with close connections to Princeton University. Its mission is to disseminate scholarship within academia and society at large. The press was founded by Whitney Darrow, ...

2008), and his work has appeared in a variety of

law journal A law review or law journal is a scholarly journal or publication that focuses on legal issues. A law review is a type of legal periodical. Law reviews are a source of research, imbedded with analyzed and referenced legal topics; they also pr ...

s, including the ''

Michigan Law Review The ''Michigan Law Review'' is an American law review and the flagship law journal of the University of Michigan Law School. History The ''Michigan Law Review'' was established in 1902, after Gustavus Ohlinger, a student in the Law Departmen ...

'', ''

Harvard Law Review The ''Harvard Law Review'' is a law review published by an independent student group at Harvard Law School. According to the ''Journal Citation Reports'', the ''Harvard Law Review''s 2015 impact factor of 4.979 placed the journal first out of 143 ...

'', ''

Columbia Law Review The ''Columbia Law Review'' is a law review edited and published by students at Columbia Law School. The journal publishes scholarly articles, essays, and student notes. It was established in 1901 by Joseph E. Corrigan and John M. Woolsey, who s ...

'', ''

Administrative Law Journal Administration may refer to: Management of organizations * Management, the act of directing people towards accomplishing a goal ** Administrative Assistant, traditionally known as a Secretary, or also known as an administrative officer, admini ...

'', and the '' University of Chicago Law Review''. Croley was ranked by

Brian Leiter Brian Leiter (; born 1963) is an American philosopher and legal scholar who is Karl N. Llewellyn Professor of Jurisprudence at the University of Chicago Law School and founder and Director of Chicago's Center for Law, Philosophy & Human Values. ...

in 2002 as being the ninth most widely cited law faculty who entered teaching since 1993.

Professional activities

Croley joined the Michigan Law faculty in 1993. From 1999 to 2006, Croley had a part-time

private practice Private practice may refer to: * Private sector practice ** Practice of law * ''Private Practice'' (TV series), an American medical drama * ''Private Practice'' (album), released in 1978 by Dr. Feelgood {{disambig pt:Private Practice ...

in the state and federal courts, handling a wide variety of matters. Croley served as a Special Assistant U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Michigan from 2006 to 2010, representing the United States in a variety of affirmative and defensive civil litigation in the federal courts. Croley was a policy advisor for the Obama for America in 2007 and 2008, serving as convenor of the Law & Judiciary Policy Advisory Committee, co-convenor of the Government Reform Policy Advisory Committee, and surrogate on administrative law and government reform. Croley also served on the Obama-Biden Transition Team in 2008 and 2009 and on the Levin- Stabenow Eastern District of Michigan Judicial Advisory Committee in 2009. He served the Obama White House beginning in 2010, and in the US Department of Energy beginning in 2014. In 2019 and 2020, he volunteered for the Biden for President campaign, and assisted the Biden Transition team. Croley is admitted to the State Bar of Michigan the Illinois Bar, and the Washington DC Bar. Croley is also a member of the

American Bar Association The American Bar Association (ABA) is a voluntary bar association of lawyers and law students, which is not specific to any jurisdiction in the United States. Founded in 1878, the ABA's most important stated activities are the setting of acad ...

Federal Bar Association The Federal Bar Association (FBA) is the primary voluntary professional organization for private and government lawyers and judges practicing and sitting in federal courts in the United States. Six times a year, The Association prints ''The Federa ...

, American Constitution Society, and

American Law and Economics Association The American Law and Economics Association (ALEA), a United States organization founded in 1991, is focused on the advancement of economic understanding of law, and related areas of public policy and regulation. It promotes research in law and econo ...

. He has served on the board of the Institute for Policy Integrity and as a member of the

Tobin Project Tobin may refer to: Name *Tobin (surname) *Tobin (given name) Places in the United States * Tobin, California * Tobin Bridge, near Boston, Massachusetts * Tobin Range, a mountain range in Nevada * Tobin Township, Perry County, Indiana * Tobin, Wi ...

on economic regulation. He has served on the Executive Committee of the Michigan Institute of Continuing Legal Education and was its chair from 2004 to 2005. Croley serves as a

peer review Peer review is the evaluation of work by one or more people with similar competencies as the producers of the work ( peers). It functions as a form of self-regulation by qualified members of a profession within the relevant field. Peer revie ...

er for ''Regulation & Governance'', the '' Journal of Politics''; the ''Journal of Public Administration Research and Theory''; and the '' Journal of Legal Studies''. Croley served as a research consultant to the U.S. Department of Labor from 1994 to 1995, to the

from 1994 to 1995, and the

Michigan Law Revision Commission Michigan () is a state in the Great Lakes region of the upper Midwestern United States. With a population of nearly 10.12 million and an area of nearly , Michigan is the 10th-largest state by population, the 11th-largest by area, and th ...

from 1996 to 1999. Croley won Michigan Law's annual L. Hart Wright Teaching Award in 1995. In 2004, Croley received the American Bar Association's Award for Scholarship in Administrative Law. In 2010, he was elected into the American Law Institute. He was the recipient of the Department of Energy's Achievement Award (2016) and Exceptional Service Award (2017). At Latham & Watkins, he represents clients across the country and around the globe with litigation matters, regulatory matters, and transactional matters.

Personal life

Croley is married to

Michigan Supreme Court The Michigan Supreme Court is the highest court in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is Michigan's court of last resort and consists of seven justices. The Court is located in the Michigan Hall of Justice at 925 Ottawa Street in Lansing, the st ...

Chief Justice Bridget Mary McCormack, a professor of law and former associate dean of clinical affairs at the

. The couple has four children.Amy Kuras
Mom Bridget Mary McCormack Lays Down the Law
''Metro Parents'' (Sept. 2012)
McCormack accepts nomination for the Michigan Supreme Court
''Legal News'' (Sept. 13, 2012) Croley is a gun owner.

Notes

{{DEFAULTSORT:Croley, Steven Paul American lawyers Living people Yale Law School alumni Year of birth missing (living people) University of Michigan alumni University of Michigan Law School faculty