Legal career paths can be peppered with several forks in the road. Many private practitioners have moved on from prestigious and high-value positions at law firms—which in some cases were their own—to seize new opportunities in various sectors.
Such bold moves have elevated the impact of countless legal professionals, many of whom were listed in The Best Lawyers in America® for excellence in several areas. These former outside counsels are now widely revered for their presence and accomplishments behind the bench, in U.S. politics and corporate leadership.
Best Lawyers is proud to highlight former recognized lawyers and "Lawyer of the Year" recipients, whose commitment to justice and ability to generate and retain value have continued beyond their time in private practice. Their names and organizations will likely be familiar to many readers, former co-workers and colleagues.
Government Leaders
Christopher A. Wray
Director
Federal Bureau of Investigation
A graduate of Yale University and its law school, Wray’s ascent to “top cop” in the U.S. is rooted in law enforcement beginning in 1997, when he served in the Department of Justice (DOJ) as an assistant U.S. attorney for the Northern District of Georgia. Following several promotions in the DOJ, he was nominated by President George W. Bush in 2003 to be the assistant attorney general for the DOJ’s Criminal Division, supervising major national and international criminal investigations and prosecutions and serving as member of the President’s Corporate Fraud Task Force. At the conclusion of his tenure with the DOJ in 2005, Wray was awarded the Edmund J. Randolph Award, the department’s highest award for leadership and public service.
In 2005, Wray joined the international law firm of King & Spalding LLP, where he spent nearly 12 years practicing government investigations and white-collar criminal defense. By leveraging his expertise in the public sector, he was recognized by Best Lawyers from 2010 to 2016 and was named the 2016 “Lawyer of the Year” in Atlanta for Criminal Defense: White-Collar.
He was serving as chair of King & Spalding’s Special Matters and Government Investigations Practice Group in 2017 when he was nominated by President Donald Trump to be the eighth and current FBI Director.
Katherine Vidal
Under Secretary of Commerce for Intellectual Property and Director
United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO)
Katherine “Kathi” Vidal was already one of the leading intellectual property (IP) lawyers in the U.S. prior to her government post in 2022. She held key leadership and management roles in international law firms and was recognized by Best Lawyers in Litigation – Patent in San Francisco from 2017 to 2022 while at Winston & Strawn LLP, where she was managing partner of the firm’s Silicon Valley Office at the time of her USPTO nomination in October 2021.
The White House previously referred to Vidal for being “nationally recognized for leading high-profile patent disputes” and as a “recognized thought leader on difficult issues confronting the legal profession and intellectual property law.”
Her nomination received bipartisan support from the Senate Judiciary committee, which confirmed her in 2022.
She leads one of the largest IP offices in the world, overseeing more than 13,000 public servants and an annual budget of more than $4 billion. As the principal IP advisor to President Joe Biden and the Administration, through the Secretary of Commerce, Vidal is focused on incentivizing and protecting U.S. innovation, entrepreneurship and creativity.
Her post is especially noteworthy, as Vidal is only the second woman to serve as USPTO Director.
Legal and Corporate Officers
Kathryn Ruemmler
Executive Vice President, Chief Legal Officer and General Counsel
Goldman Sachs
Kathryn Ruemmler’s career is very likely the envy of many legal professionals. Even prior to her current position at one of the world’s leading investment firms, she had made an impact on the landscape.
She served as an associate counsel to President Bill Clinton in 2000 and 2001 and joined the DOJ shortly afterward. Ruemmler served as Deputy Director of the Enron Task Force, and in 2006, delivered the government's closing argument in the trial of former Enron executives Kenneth Lay and Jeffrey Skilling, both of whom were convicted of securities fraud, among other charges.
She joined Latham & Watkins in 2007 as a litigation partner but left in 2009 to return to the DOJ and from 2011 to 2014, served as counsel to President Barack Obama. With these impressive credentials, she returned to Latham & Watkins from 2014 to 2020 and served as Global Chair of the White-Collar Defense and Investigations Practice. She was recognized by Best Lawyers from 2018 to 2020 for Criminal Defense: White Collar in Washington, D.C. In 2020, she left Latham once more to join Goldman Sachs as partner, and is currently its Executive Vice President, Chief Legal Officer and General Counsel.
E. Beauregarde “Beau” Fisher III
Executive Vice President, General Counsel and Secretary
Coca-Cola Consolidated
With 35 years in practice and a long list of achievements and career growth, E. Beauregarde “Beau” Fisher III has just two employers on his resume—Moore & Van Allen PLLC in North Carolina and Coca-Cola Consolidated.
From September 1998 to February 2017, Fisher was a member of Moore & Van Allen, with a primary focus on domestic and cross-border mergers and acquisitions and corporate governance, among other related areas. He was elevated to partner and ultimately served on the firm’s management committee and chaired its business law practice group. Among his many accolades, Fisher was named a Best Lawyers 2014 “Lawyer of the Year” in Charlotte for Mergers and Acquisitions Law.
His prestige and legal acumen caught the attention of his client, Coca-Cola, which he had represented as outside counsel through the years. The beverage giant brought him aboard and in January 2018 announced he would be Executive Vice President, General Counsel and Secretary, a role he still holds. Fisher oversees legal and governance matters as well as insurance and risk management, internal controls services and administrative services.
Todd M. Nierman
Employee Relations Principal
Amazon
Todd M. Nierman made a name for himself as an outside counsel representing employers in labor and employment matters starting in 1986 at Baker & Daniels in Indianapolis, Indiana. He remained at the firm for 20 years and chaired its Labor and Employment practice group. He moved to Littler Mendelson P.C. to become a shareholder and co-founded its Indianapolis office. His counsel was sought for more than 100 union organizing efforts in units as large as 2,000 employees in 20 states. He was credited for negotiating dozens of collective bargaining agreements in units as large as 1,500 employees.
It was in 2006 when he was first recognized by The Best Lawyers in America® for Labor Law – Management and Employment Law – Management in Indianapolis. He was recognized by the publication each year until 2021, and by that time he had been with Ogletree, Deakins, Nash, Smoak & Stewart, P.C. for more than eight years.
Online retail giant Amazon added Nierman to its roster of experienced professionals in 2021. As Employee Relations Principal, Nierman applies his employee and labor relations expertise to identify trends and challenges, predict and mitigate risk, and develop and execute solution-focused strategies and programs. He leads crisis management efforts for the enterprise—which reported $244 billion in gross profits for the 12 months ending June 30, 2023; and as the world continues to turn to Amazon and its workforce for shopping, content and web service platforms, his legal insight is clearly instrumental.
Behind The Bench
Gerald L. Jackson
Magistrate Judge
Eastern District of Oklahoma
Gerald L. Jackson began serving an eight-year term as Magistrate Judge in the Eastern District of Oklahoma after being sworn-in in August 2022. His colorful career dates back to 1995, when he served for two years as assistant counsel to the U.S. House of Representatives Committee on Agriculture.
He left the government job in 1997 for a long-term move to Crowe & Dunlevy in Tulsa, Oklahoma, where he specialized in commercial and corporate litigation, Indian law and gaming and was eventually elected to shareholder. He was recognized in 2013 and 2019 by Best Lawyers for Commercial Litigation in Tulsa, thanks in part to his success in litigating complex business disputes and mass tort actions in state and federal courts, including class action lawsuits.
He was also renowned for his deep knowledge of Native American and tribal affairs. He represented clients in state, federal and tribal courts regarding complex business disputes, mass tort actions and commercial arbitrations, and has extensive experience involving tribe‐state and intra‐tribal matters.
Judge Bianca M. Rucker
U.S. Bankruptcy Judge
Eastern and Western Districts of Arkansas
Bianca M. Rucker developed a reputation for excellence for 15 years in Arkansas bankruptcy courts before her appointment as U.S. Bankruptcy Judge for the Eastern and Western Districts of Arkansas in April 2021.
Her experience in bankruptcy is rooted in the aforementioned districts, and as a staff attorney she learned the ropes from those who donned the robe—U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Hon. Richard D. Taylor 2006 through 2007, and U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Hon. Ben T. Barry in May 2007 and worked with him in Fayetteville, Arkansas through December 2011.
She went into private practice by joining Wright, Lindsey & Jennings as a partner in December 2011 through August 2016 before launching her own firm, Rucker Law PLLC later that year. In 2018, she was listed in the 24th edition of The Best Lawyers in America for Bankruptcy and Creditor Debtor Rights / Insolvency and Reorganization Law in Fayetteville.
She was revered as one of Arkansas leading Chapter 7 panel bankruptcy trustees and attorneys representing creditors and debtors in consumer and business bankruptcy matters, but seized an opportunity when one of the three bankruptcy judgeships became vacant.
Considering her deep experience serving prior judges, it seemed only natural that Rucker would hold a gavel in the districts she served during her formative years. She is also an adjunct professor at the University of Arkansas School of Law, where she teaches Advanced Bankruptcy and Alcohol Beverage Law.
