Law Practice, Pentagon Style: An Interview w/ Department of Defense's General Counsel
By: Steve Grumm
Some unusual content coming from the inimitable Above the Law blog: an interview with Jeh Johnson, the General Counsel at the Pentagon. The conversation between Johnson and AtL’s David Lat is wide-ranging, and makes for a good read. A lot of discussion about Johnson’s career path and his sliding between the private and public sectors.
I asked: Is Johnson enjoying his service as General Counsel of the Defense Department?
“Am I having fun? No, I’m not having fun,” said Johnson, good-naturedly. “Public service is not a frolic or a sabbatical. There are over 10,000 lawyers in DoD, I oversee their work, and I make less than a first year associate at Paul Weiss. ‘Enjoy’ is not the right word.”
So why did Johnson leave his (extremely lucrative) Paul Weiss partnership to take up this post?
“Loyalty to this President, commitment to public service and the safety of our country, and never having a dull day are what keep me going,” he said. “There is nothing else I’d rather be doing right now. It’s not exactly fun, but it is fulfilling and demanding, and I do it out of a sense of public service.”
