David William Ogden, known professionally as David W. Ogden (born November 12, 1953) is an American lawyer who served as the

deputy attorney general The Deputy Attorney General (DAG) is the second-highest-ranking official in a department of justice or of law, in various governments of the world. In those governments, the deputy attorney general oversees the day-to-day operation of the departme ...

of the United States. An American lawyer, Ogden was also a high-ranking official in the

United States Department of Justice The United States Department of Justice (DOJ), also known as the Justice Department, is a federal executive department of the United States government tasked with the enforcement of federal law and administration of justice in the United Stat ...

and the

United States Department of Defense The United States Department of Defense (DoD, USDOD or DOD) is an executive branch department of the federal government charged with coordinating and supervising all agencies and functions of the government directly related to national sec ...

during the administration of President

Bill Clinton William Jefferson Clinton ( né Blythe III; born August 19, 1946) is an American politician who served as the 42nd president of the United States from 1993 to 2001. He previously served as governor of Arkansas from 1979 to 1981 and agai ...

. He is a nationally recognized litigator and counselor in the Washington, DC., office of the law firm WilmerHale, LLP.

Early life and education

Ogden is the son of Horace G. "Hod" Ogden (1925–1998), who was the first director of the Bureau of Health Education at the

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) is the national public health agency of the United States. It is a United States federal agency, under the Department of Health and Human Services, and is headquartered in Atlanta, Georgi ...

(and previously had worked for the

United States Department of Health, Education, and Welfare The United States Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) is a cabinet-level executive branch department of the U.S. federal government created to protect the health of all Americans and providing essential human services. Its motto is " ...

), and Elaine C. Ogden, an elementary school teacher. Ogden earned an

A.B. Bachelor of arts (BA or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts degree course is generally completed in three or four yea ...

'' summa cum laude'' from the

University of Pennsylvania The University of Pennsylvania (also known as Penn or UPenn) is a private research university in Philadelphia. It is the fourth-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and is ranked among the highest-regarded universitie ...

in 1976 and a J.D. '' magna cum laude'' in 1981 from Harvard Law School.Profile
martindale.com; accessed January 26, 2015. He served as an editor of the '' Harvard Law Review''.Profile
wilmerhale.com; accessed January 26, 2015. In 1981–82, Ogden clerked for Hon.

Abraham David Sofaer Abraham David Sofaer (born May 6, 1938) is an American attorney and jurist who served as a United States district judge of the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York and legal adviser to the United States State Departm ...

, U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York, and in 1982–83, he clerked for

U.S. Supreme Court The Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) is the highest court in the federal judiciary of the United States. It has ultimate appellate jurisdiction over all U.S. federal court cases, and over state court cases that involve a point o ...

Associate Justice

Harry A. Blackmun Harry Andrew Blackmun (November 12, 1908 – March 4, 1999) was an American lawyer and jurist who served as an Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States from 1970 to 1994. Appointed by Republican President Richard Nixon, Black ...

Career

Ogden began his career in

Washington, D.C. ) , image_skyline = , image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, ...

, as an associate from 1983 until 1985 at the law firm of Ennis Friedman & Bersoff, and he served as a partner at that firm from 1986 until 1988. From 1988 until 1994, Ogden was a partner in the Washington, D.C., office of

Jenner & Block Jenner & Block is an American law firm with offices in Chicago, London, Los Angeles, New York City, San Francisco, and Washington, D.C. The firm is active in corporate litigation, business transactions, the public sector, and other legal fields ...

. From 1994 to 1995, he served as the deputy general counsel and legal counsel for the

. From 1995 to 1997, he was an

associate deputy attorney general Associate deputy attorney general is a position in the Office of the Deputy Attorney General in United States Department of Justice. The number of positions varies widely depending on the staffing discretion of the deputy attorney general, but in ...

in the

. From 1997 to 1998, Ogden was counselor to United States Attorney General Janet Reno, and from 1998–99, he was chief of staff to Attorney General Reno. From 1999–2000, he was acting

assistant attorney general Many of the divisions and offices of the United States Department of Justice are headed by an assistant attorney general. The president of the United States appoints individuals to the position of assistant attorney general with the advice and ...

and from 2000 to 2001, the Senate-confirmed assistant attorney general in charge of the Civil Division in the

. As assistant attorney general, Ogden led the Justice Department's largest litigation division handling major constitutional, administrative law, false claims act, government contracts, consumer law, and tort matters. In September 1999, under his leadership, the Civil Division filed the United States' high profile lawsuit against the tobacco industry. From June 2001 until November 2008, and again since April 2010, Ogden has been a partner in the Washington, D.C., office of the law firm

Wilmer Cutler Pickering Hale and Dorr Wilmer Cutler Pickering Hale and Dorr LLP, also known as Hale & Dorr and WilmerHale, is an international law firm with offices in the United States, Europe and Asia. It is co-headquartered in Washington, D.C. and Boston. It was formed in 2004 thr ...

("WilmerHale"), leading the firm's Government and Regulatory Litigation Practice Group. In private practice, he has represented a wide range of businesses, trade associations, and individuals in litigation, arbitration and investigations against the United States government, state governments and foreign governments, and private parties, including cases under the Administrative Procedure Act, fair lending laws, the False Claims Act, fraud racketeering laws, international litigation, and arbitration.

Deputy attorney general

On January 5, 2009, President-elect

Barack Obama Barack Hussein Obama II ( ; born August 4, 1961) is an American politician who served as the 44th president of the United States from 2009 to 2017. A member of the Democratic Party, Obama was the first African-American president of the ...

announced he would nominate Ogden to be deputy attorney general.Carrie Johnson and Robert Barnes
"Solicitor General and Deputy Attorney General Named"
''

The Washington Post ''The Washington Post'' (also known as the ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'') is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C. It is the most widely circulated newspaper within the Washington metropolitan area and has a large nati ...

'', January 5, 2009. Ogden's nomination was criticized by conservative groups that objected to some of his previous legal work, such as litigation under the First Amendment on behalf of adult entertainment companies including

Playboy ''Playboy'' is an American men's Lifestyle magazine, lifestyle and entertainment magazine, formerly in print and currently online. It was founded in Chicago in 1953, by Hugh Hefner and his associates, and funded in part by a $1,000 loan from H ...

and

Penthouse Penthouse most often refers to: *Penthouse apartment, a special apartment on the top floor of a building *Penthouse (magazine), ''Penthouse'' (magazine), a British-founded men's magazine *Mechanical penthouse, a floor, typically located directly u ...

and amicus briefs on behalf of the American Psychological Association in constitutional litigation involving abortion and gay rights.Evan Perez
"Adult Entertainment: Fight Erupts Over Nominee’s Defense of Porn"
''

The Wall Street Journal ''The Wall Street Journal'' is an American business-focused, international daily newspaper based in New York City, with international editions also available in Chinese and Japanese. The ''Journal'', along with its Asian editions, is published ...

'', March 12, 2009.Associated Press
"Christian right challenging Obama's picks"
February 5, 2009. However, the selection was praised and supported by the Leadership Conference on Civil Rights, the

Federal Law Enforcement Officers Association The Federal Law Enforcement Officers Association is a non-union club and lobbying organization for federal law enforcement, including the Secret Service, DHS's Air Marshals and TSA's Transportation Security Officers. History and stances In 1986, F ...

, the

National Sheriff's Association The National Sheriffs' Association (NSA) is a U.S. trade association. Its stated purpose is to raise the level of professionalism among U.S. sheriffs, their deputies and others in the fields of criminal justice and public safety. Since its foun ...

, the National District Attorneys Association,

Larry Thompson Larry Dean Thompson (born November 15, 1945) is an American lawyer and law professor, most notable for his service as deputy Attorney General of the United States under United States President George W. Bush until August 2003. Early life and e ...

Jamie S. Gorelick Jamie S. Gorelick (; born May 6, 1950) is an American lawyer who served as the Deputy Attorney General of the United States from 1994 to 1997, during the Clinton administration. She has been a partner at WilmerHale since 2003 and has served on t ...

Seth Waxman Seth Paul Waxman (born November 28, 1951) is an American lawyer who served as the 41st Solicitor General of the United States from 1997 to 2001. He then returned to private legal practice, and serves as the co-chairman of the appellate and Supr ...

, the

Boys and Girls Clubs of America Boys & Girls Clubs of America (BGCA) is a national organization of local chapters which provide voluntary after-school programs for young people. The organization, which holds a congressional charter under Title 36 of the United States Code, h ...

, and the

National Center for Missing and Exploited Children The National Center for Missing & Exploited Children (NCMEC) is a private, nonprofit organization established in 1984 by the United States Congress. In September 2013, the United States House of Representatives, United States Senate, and the Pres ...

. Ogden was confirmed by the

United States Senate The United States Senate is the upper chamber of the United States Congress, with the House of Representatives being the lower chamber. Together they compose the national bicameral legislature of the United States. The composition and pow ...

on March 12, 2009, in a vote of 65–28.Associated Press
Senate confirms Ogden as deputy attorney general
March 12, 2009. As deputy attorney general, Ogden set new Justice Department policy in connection with criminal and civil discovery to fulfill the department's obligations to disclose exculpatory information to criminal defendants; providing new law enforcement resources to help Native American tribal communities combat violence against women and children; redoubling federal efforts to combat health care fraud; and accommodating federal enforcement policy to laws in several states legalizing medicinal use of marijuana. On December 3, 2009, it was announced that he would be resigning his post and returning to private practice in February 2010.FBI National Press Offic

, (December 3, 2009).Carrie Johnson

''

'', December 4, 2009. According to news accounts, Ogden stepped down in part because of disagreements with Attorney General

Eric Holder Eric Himpton Holder Jr. (born January 21, 1951) is an American lawyer who served as the 82nd Attorney General of the United States from 2009 to 2015. Holder, serving in the administration of President Barack Obama, was the first African Amer ...

over management issues.

Personal life

Ogden is married to Anne Harkavy and has three children; two by his first marriage.Ogden Testimony
/ref> Harkavy was formerly deputy general counsel for litigation, regulation and enforcement for the U.S. Department of Energy.

References

External links