John J. Byrne, Jr., Of-Counsel
John J. Byrne, Jr. (Skip) graduated from Yale University summa cum laude in 1976 where he was a member of Phi Betta Kappa. In 1980 he graduated from the University of Virginia Law School. He is admitted to practice law in the District of Columbia, New York and Maryland. He has years of experience in civil litigation both in New York City and Washington D.C.

From 1988 until 1997 Mr. Byrne was a federal prosecutor with the United States Department of Justice. During this period he successfully prosecuted many prominent Organized Crime Figures in Southern California. He has extensive criminal and civil jury trial experience, and has argued frequent appeals before the federal Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit. As an Assistant United States Attorney in the Central District of California, Organized Crime Strike Force Unit, he won the Greater Los Angeles Federal Executive Board's "Outstanding Professional Employee Award" in 1995. This award was given for sustained outstanding performance as a federal prosecutor, and for his leadership in developing a cooperative criminal investigation strategy encompassing the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Bureau of Alcohol Tobacco and Firearms, and Los Angeles Police Department. The investigation resulted in convictions that decimated the leadership hierarchy of street gangs in two areas of Los Angeles and all but terminated violent gang activities in those areas at that time. In 1995 Mr. Byrne was awarded the United States Department of Justice "Special Achievement Award" in recognition of his exceptional contributions.