Jeff Bleich

Jeffrey Laurence Bleich (born 1961) is an American lawyer and diplomat from California.

Bleich graduated from Amherst College magna cum laude with a Bachelor of Arts degree in political science in 1983.

Bleich was admitted to study at Harvard University but deferred for a year to take a public policy fellowship at the Coro Foundation in St. Louis, Missouri, where he became involved in juvenile justice issues.

At Harvard, Bleich went to the John F. Kennedy School of Government as a 1986 John F. Kennedy Fellow, graduating with a Master of Public Policy.

Bleich attended the University of California, Berkeley School of Law and received his J.D. in 1989.

He was editor-in-chief of the California Law Review and Order of the Coif.

Bleich served as a law clerk to Judge Abner Mikva of the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit from 1989 to 1990 and to Chief Justice William H. Rehnquist of the Supreme Court of the United States from 1990 to 1991.

He was legal assistant to Judge Howard M. Holtzmann of the Iran-United States Claims Tribunal at The Hague from 1991 to 1992, and Special Rapporteur to the Permanent Court of Arbitration.

Bleich joined the Los Angeles-headquartered firm Munger, Tolles & Olson LLP in 1992, and was made partner three years later, in December 1995.

His practice there was focused primarily on general civil litigation, with emphasis on complex litigation, appellate practice, media law, communications law, and intellectual property.

Bleich was recognized as one of the Top 100 Lawyers in California by the Daily Journal, as California Attorney of the Year by California Lawyer, and as one of America's leading "Bet the Company" lawyers by Best Lawyers.

Bleich has also been recognized for his pro bono service to immigrants, homeless and foster youth, veterans, victims of gun violence, survivors of domestic abuse, human rights organizations, religious and racial minorities, gay and lesbian servicemembers, journalists, native Americans, detainees, and others victims of discrimination.

These include the Peter Haas Public Service Medal from University of California, Berkeley, the ABA Pro Bono Publico Award, the Lawyers Committee for Civil Rights Robert Sproul Award, the American Jewish Committee Learned Hand Award, the One Justice Attorney of the Year Award, and the Ruth Bader Ginsburg Award for Excellence in the Legal Profession, among others.

He received a Certificate of Study in Public and Private International Law from the Hague Academy of International Law, Netherlands in 1993.

Bleich also holds three honorary degrees.

From 1993-2006 Bleich served as an adjunct lecturer in law at Berkeley Law, teaching constitutional law and upper-level seminar courses in international human rights, habeas corpus, and appellate advocacy.

Bleich was born at the U.S. 98th Army Hospital in Germany and grew up in the U.S. state of Connecticut.

He graduated from Hall High School in West Hartford, Connecticut.

He was also president of the San Francisco Bar Association in 2003, and served as president of the Barristers Club of San Francisco, Chair of Legal Services for Children, Co-Chair of the Lawyers Committee for Civil Rights for the SF Bay Area.

Bleich was elected to the American Law Institute in 2003 and served as chair of the American Bar Association Amicus Curiae Committee from 2006-2009.

He also served on an ABA subcommittee on corporate social responsibility and on the ABA Section on International Law.

in addition to the Edward J. McFetridge American Inn of Court.

He has written over 100 articles and served on some 20 different boards, including the boards of Human Rights Watch and Legal Community Against Violence as well as the Boalt Hall Alumni Association and the Legal Aid Society of San Francisco.

Bleich served as president of the State Bar of California from 2007 to 2008.

A longtime friend of President Barack Obama, Bleich joined the White House staff in March 2009 as Special Counsel to the President and was nominated later that year to become United States Ambassador to Australia.

Bleich served as ambassador from 2009 to 2013.

In 2009, President Barack Obama appointed Bleich as Special Counsel to the President in the White House.

Among his tasks was to address confirmation and personnel issues and to advise on other sensitive matters.

He moderated a discussion on human rights in the new administration at the 2009 American Bar Association's Section of International Law Spring Meeting in April 2009.

In May 2011, Bleich was awarded an honorary Doctor of Laws degree from San Francisco State University.

In 2014, Flinders University in Adelaide, South Australia awarded him the honorary Degree of Doctor of the University.

Bleich returned to legal practice in 2014.

Following the end of his diplomatic service, Bleich rejoined the partnership at the San Francisco office of Munger, Tolles & Olson.

Bleich's practice focused on cybersecurity, trade, and international disputes, as well as on-pro bono work., He was selected in 2014, 2015, and 2016 as one of the leading 500 Lawyers in the U.S. Serving pro bono, he obtained posthumous admission to the California Bar for a Chinese national, Hong Yen Chang, in a petition addressing the unlawful exclusion of Chinese in the 1890s, leading the Court to "right this historic wrong."

Bleich also successfully represented a victim of domestic violence in an action against her abuser in a second unanimous decision by the California Supreme Court.

In 2016, Bleich joined Dentons LLP and became group CEO.

In 2016, he was profiled by LawDragon as one of the "rock stars" of law.

Bleich was appointed Special Master for the United States District Court in a multi-district litigation dispute involving international price fixing, and also has served as a neutral in high-stakes technology disputes, including mediating a $650 million settlement the In re Facebooks Biometrics case.

After stepping down from his post, he returned to the United States and became a partner and group CEO at the Dentons law firm in San Francisco, and ran in the primary for Lieutenant Governor of California in the 2018 election, before being appointed as a special master for multi-district litigation for the U.S. District Court.

Griffith University in Queensland, Australia awarded Bleich the honorary Degree of Doctor of the University in 2019.