James B. Moorhead

Partner

• jmoorhead@steptoe.com
• vCard
• Washington Office

Mr. Moorhead is a litigation partner in the Washington office of Steptoe & Johnson LLP, where he is a member of the Corporate, Securities and Finance practice group.  Mr. Moorhead co-chairs the Crisis Management practice group and heads the Class Action practice group.

He has provided strategic and communications advice, advocacy and crisis management to Fortune 500 and other major clients facing challenging legal, business, regulatory and political settings.  Mr. Moorhead has experience representing newsworthy clients and commenting on issues of great public interest on national and local news stations and networks. 

Prior to joining the firm, Mr. Moorhead was a federal prosecutor in Baltimore and an investment banker in New York City.  He recently served as chief financial officer and general counsel of an emerging growth company.

His Crisis Management experience includes:

• Serving as national counsel to a financial services company, coordinating legal and communications strategies to address two US Senate investigations, two US Attorney investigations, several regulatory reviews and civil litigation;
• Advising the New York Times and many other leading newspapers and industry publications on the status of pending investigations and lawsuits; winning or satisfactorily resolving more than 50 civil matters, including several class actions.
  
• Defending Fortune 500 companies against hostile tender offers, working closely with C-suite executives and their legal and public relations teams in deploying a variety of techniques to fend off these unwanted attacks, including mobilizing hometown constituencies, obtaining favorable state legislation and undermining the credibility of the raiders through free media.
• Advising statewide, congressional and mayoral candidates on electoral and media strategies.
• Being a regular weekend CNN commentator and frequent legal commentator on CNBC, MSNBC and Court TV during the OJ Simpson trial, Paula Jones and Whitewater investigations and Clinton impeachment proceedings; guest hosted America’s Talking TV show about federal government waste.
• Giving regular updates to local TV, Washington Post and Baltimore Sun reporters about trials and investigations he handled as federal prosecutor.
• Successfully lobbying William Donald Schaefer gubernatorial administration for creation of commission on government efficiency and economy on which he served as an advisory member.  

Mr. Moorhead is a frequent television commentator on major civil and criminal trials.  He also has spoken and written extensively on various legal and business issues, including internal investigations, litigation prevention, and maximizing shareholder value.

Select News & Events

• Steptoe Launches Subprime Lending Litigation Team
• In-House Attorneys as Gatekeepers
• Moorhead Rejoins Our Washington Office
• Jim Moorhead Moderates Panel on Internal Investigations at NAWL Annual Meeting, July 18, 2006

Publications

• Corporate Fraud Defense Report (Vol 1 No 6)
  June 2006
• Corporate Fraud Defense Report (Vol 1 No 5)
  May 2006
• Corporate Fraud Defense Report (Vol 1 No 4)
  April 2006
• To Conduct or Not Conduct an Internal Investigation
  June 2000, Corporate Legal Times (now Inside Counsel)

Professional Affiliations

• Served as an Assistant US Attorney in Maryland for three years (focused on prosecuting political and labor corruption cases)
• Member of the Securities Industry and Financial Markets Association and the Mid-Atlantic Venture Association, and has spoken and written extensively on legal and business issues, including litigation prevention and the maximization of shareholder value