John F. Savarese
Education
- Harvard University, A.B. 1977, magna cum laude
- Harvard Law School, J.D. 1981, cum laude (Editor, Harvard Law Review)
Clerkships
Honorable William J. Brennan, Supreme Court of the United States, 1983 – 1984
Honorable Louis H. Pollak, United States District Court, Eastern District of Pennsylvania, 1981 – 1982
John F. Savarese
John F. Savarese has been a partner in the Litigation Department of Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz for the past 25 years. He has represented numerous Fortune 500 corporations, major financial institutions and senior executives in SEC and other regulatory enforcement proceedings, as well as white-collar criminal investigations, complex securities litigations, and internal investigations. His extensive experience includes major investigations arising out of the financial crisis of 2008, as well as accounting fraud, insider trading, criminal tax, and criminal antitrust allegations.
Mr. Savarese joined Wachtell Lipton in 1988, after working in the United States Attorneys’ Office for the Southern District of New York, where he tried numerous jury trials, received the Attorney General’s John Marshall Award for Outstanding Legal Achievement, and also served as Chief Appellate Attorney. Prior to his work with the United States Attorneys’ Office, Mr. Savarese served as a law clerk to Justice William J. Brennan of the United States Supreme Court, and to the Honorable Louis H. Pollak of the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania.
Mr. Savarese teaches a course on white-collar criminal law and procedure at Harvard Law School. He serves on the Executive Committee of the New York City Bar Association and was the first chairman of the Association’s White Collar Criminal Law Committee. He is a member of the American Law Institute, and serves as Adviser to the ALI’s project on Principles of Law, Compliance, Enforcement, and Risk Management. He also is a frequent lecturer and panelist for the American Bar Association, Stanford Law School’s Directors’ College program, the Practising Law Institute, and the Securities Industry and Financial Markets Association concerning a wide variety of topics, including defending civil and criminal litigation, handling corporate crises and conducting internal investigations. He has written numerous articles on those subjects and serves as a member of the Board of Editors of the “Wall Street Lawyer.”
Mr. Savarese also is chairman of the Board of Trustees of the Vera Institute of Justice in New York, a member of the Dean’s Advisory Board at Harvard Law School, a member of the board of the Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law, and the former President of the board of trustees of The Brearley School in New York.
Mr. Savarese graduated magna cum laude from Harvard University in 1977 and received his JD cum laude from Harvard Law School in 1981, where he was an editor of the Harvard Law Review. Mr. Savarese is regularly recognized as one of the world’s top litigators, including being selected in International Who’s Who of Business Lawyers, Chambers USA Guide and Lawdragon’s 500 Leading Lawyers in America.
Select Publications
- White-Collar and Regulatory Enforcement: What Mattered in 2023 and What to Expect in 2024,
in NYU Law School’s Blog on Compliance and Enforcement, February 8, 2024.
- The SEC’s Enforcement Action Against SolarWinds Underscores Growing Scrutiny Over Cybersecurity Internal Controls, Reporting and Disclosures,
in NYU Law School’s Blog on Compliance and Enforcement, November 13, 2023.
- Risk Management and the Board of Directors,
in Harvard Law School Forum on Corporate Governance, September 30, 2023.
- Pressure on DEI Initiatives Continues to Mount,
in Harvard Law School Forum on Corporate Governance, August 19, 2023 and Columbia Law School’s Blog on Corporations and the Capital Markets, August 22, 2023.
- DEI Initiatives Post-SFFA: Considerations for Boards and Management,
in Harvard Law School Forum on Corporate Governance, August 9, 2023, Columbia Law School’s Blog on Corporations and the Capital Markets, August 9, 2023 and NYU Law School’s Blog on Compliance and Enforcement, August 14, 2023.
- The Supreme Court’s Business for October Term 2022,
in Columbia Law School’s Blog on Corporations and the Capital Markets, July 17, 2023.
- The Fall of “Affirmative Action” and Its Implications for Employers,
in Harvard Law School Forum on Corporate Governance, July 5, 2023.
- Supreme Court Rejects Challenge to California Law Alleged to Burden Out-of-State Industry,
in NYU Law School’s Blog on Compliance and Enforcement, May 17, 2023.
- Wachtell Lipton Discusses Constitutional Challenges to Ongoing SEC and FTC Administrative Proceedings,
in Columbia Law School’s Blog on Corporations and the Capital Markets, April 19, 2023.
- A Sign of the Times in SEC Cyber Enforcement,
in NYU Law School’s Blog on Compliance and Enforcement, April 12, 2023.
- White-Collar and Regulatory Enforcement: What Mattered in 2022 and What to Expect in 2023,
in NYU Law School’s Blog on Compliance and Enforcement, March 2, 2023.
- Risk Management and the Board of Directors,
in Harvard Law School Forum on Corporate Governance, September 17, 2022.
- Important Supreme Court Business Cases Decided During October Term 2021 and Cases to Watch in October Term 2022,
in Columbia Law School’s Blog on Corporations and the Capital Markets, July 6, 2022.
- DOJ Delivers Stark Message About Corporate Cooperation,
in Harvard Law School Forum on Corporate Governance, March 8, 2022.
- SEC Proposes Cybersecurity Rules for Registered Investment Advisers and Funds,
in Harvard Law School Forum on Corporate Governance, February 12, 2022.
- White-Collar and Regulatory Enforcement: What Mattered in 2021 and What to Expect in 2022,
in Harvard Law School Forum on Corporate Governance, February 2, 2022 and Columbia Law School’s Blog on Corporations and the Capital Markets, February 10, 2022.
- Revisiting Whistleblower Response Procedures in Light of SEC’s Whistleblower Bounty Payments Milestone,
in Harvard Law School Forum on Corporate Governance, September 21, 2021.
- Vermont’s Fossil Fuel Suit Underscores Climate-Change Pressures Faced by U.S. Companies,
in Harvard Law School Forum on Corporate Governance, September 17, 2021.
- SEC Maintains Focus on Contingent Liabilities,
in Harvard Law School Forum on Corporate Governance, August 27, 2021.
- A New Variation in SEC Insider Trading Enforcement,
in Harvard Law School Forum on Corporate Governance and Financial Regulation, August 20, 2021, Columbia Law School’s Blog on Corporations and the Capital Markets, August 23, 2021 and NYU Law School’s Blog on Compliance and Enforcement, August 21, 2021.
- Latest SEC Enforcement Action Reinforces Critical Need to Maintain Effective Disclosure Controls Concerning Cybersecurity Breaches and Risks,
in Harvard Law School Forum on Corporate Governance, August 18, 2021 and Columbia Law School’s Blog on Corporations and the Capital Markets, August 20, 2021.
- Important Supreme Court Business Cases Decided During October Term 2020 and Cases to Watch in October Term 2021,
in Columbia Law School’s Blog on Corporations and the Capital Markets, July 15, 2021.
- Supreme Court Confirms that “All” Evidence Rebutting Price Impact Must Be Considered on Motions to Certify Securities-Fraud Classes,
in Harvard Law School Forum on Corporate Governance, July 6, 2021.
- A New Angle on Cybersecurity Enforcement from the SEC,
in Harvard Law School Forum on Corporate Governance and Financial Regulation, June 26, 2021.
- Cybersecurity Oversight and Defense — A Board and Management Imperative,
in NYU Law School’s Blog on Compliance and Enforcement, May 12, 2021 and Harvard Law School Forum on Corporate Governance, May 14, 2021.
- Mass Incarceration: Where Do We Go From Here?,
Report of the New York City Bar Association’s Task Force on Mass Incarceration, January 2017.
