C.J. Mahoney

Curtis Joseph "C.J." Mahoney is an American attorney and a Deputy General Counsel at Microsoft. Previously a partner at Williams & Connolly, Mahoney served as the Deputy United States Trade Representative (Investment, Services, Labor, Environment, Africa, China, and the Western Hemisphere) from 2018 to 2020.^[1]

C.J. Mahoney
Personal details
Born	Curtis Joseph Mahoney Russell, Kansas, U.S.
Political party	Republican
Spouse	Rebecca Iverson ​ (m. 2005)​
Education	Harvard College (BA) Yale Law School (JD)

Early life and education

Mahoney was born in Russell, Kansas and attended Russell High School.^[2] He has an A.B. in government from Harvard College, where he was Phi Beta Kappa and graduated magna cum laude.^[3][4][5] In 2006, he received his J.D. from Yale Law School, where he was editor-in-chief of the Yale Law Journal.^[6][7][8] Mahoney clerked for Alex Kozinski of the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit. He also clerked for United States Supreme Court Justice Anthony Kennedy from 2007 to 2008.^[9]

Legal career

Prior to his government service, Mahoney was a trial lawyer and partner at the Washington, D.C. law firm of Williams & Connolly LLP, where his practice focused on international commercial arbitration, white-collar defense, the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, legal malpractice, and First Amendment law.^[10][11]

The United States Senate unanimously confirmed Mahoney to serve as Deputy United States Trade Representative on March 1, 2018.^[12]

Mahoney led efforts to renegotiate the North American Free Trade Agreement and secure passage of its successor agreement, the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA), in the U.S. Congress.^[13] The USMCA passed the United States House of Representatives by a vote of 385 to 41 and the United States Senate by a vote of 89 to 10.^[14] The Washington Post described the overwhelming, bipartisan vote as “nice return to normalcy” in a time of partisan gridlock.^[15]

Mahoney oversaw the United States Trade Representative's digital trade initiatives and helped launch free trade agreement talks with the United Kingdom and Kenya.^[16][17] He also negotiated and signed an agreement between the United States and the African Union to support implementation of the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA).^[18]

Mahoney resigned as Deputy United States Trade Representative in October 2020.^[19]

In January 2020, President Trump announced his intent to nominate Mahoney as the State Department Legal Adviser.^[20] Mahoney's nomination drew praise from members of the Federal Government of Mexico with whom he had worked during the USMCA negotiations and from prominent critics of the Trump Administration, including former Legal Advisor John Bellinger and former Assistant Attorney General Jack Goldsmith.^{[21][22][23][24]} A bipartisan group of former government officials, including former Legal Advisors, endorsed Mahoney's nomination in a letter to the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.^[25] In July 2020, the Committee held a hearing on his nomination and reported him favorably to the full Senate by unanimous consent.^[26] On January 3, 2021, his nomination was returned to the President under Rule XXXI, Paragraph 6 of the United States Senate.^[27]

On February 26, 2021, Microsoft announced that Mahoney had joined the tech giant as Deputy General Counsel, U.S. International Trade and Azure.^[28]

Other professional activities

Mahoney has served on the Yale Law School Fund Board and as a visiting clinical lecturer at the law school where he taught a course on international arbitration.

Mahoney serves on the Advisory Board of the Robert J. Dole Institute of Politics at the University of Kansas.

Personal life

On August 13, 2005, Mahoney married Rebecca Ann Iverson in Washington, D.C.^[29]

Mahoney is the nephew of Emmy-nominated actress Marj (Mahoney) Dusay.

See also

• List of law clerks of the Supreme Court of the United States (Seat 1)

References

1. Lawson, Alex (July 21, 2017). "Trump Fleshes Out USTR Team With Arbitration Specialist". Law360. Retrieved 7 September 2017.
2. Elliott, David. "Russell Native Nominated for US Ambassador's Position". KRSL.com. Retrieved September 7, 2017.
3. "Student To Help Endorse Nominee". Harvard Crimson. August 13, 1996. Retrieved September 7, 2017.
4. Zweifach, Daniel A. (November 23, 1998). "Harvard Republicans Elect New Leaders". Harvard Crimson. Retrieved September 7, 2017.
5. Resnick, Scott (May 1, 1998). "SIWP Offers Students Social and Professional Perks". Harvard Crimson. Retrieved September 7, 2017.
6. "Masthead, Vol 115". Yale Law Journal. 2006. Retrieved September 19, 2017. Curtis J. Mahoney, editor in chief
7. Liptak, Adam (November 15, 2005). "Yale Law Frets Over Court Choices It Knows Best". New York Times. Retrieved September 7, 2017.
8. Carter, Terry (July 10, 2006). "Revising Law Review". ABA Journal. Retrieved September 7, 2017.
9. Finger, Stan (July 20, 2017). "President Trump nominates Kansan to ambassador's position". The Wichita Eagle. Retrieved 7 September 2017.
10. Stempel, Jonathan (January 3, 2017). "Bond trader faces retrial as U.S. cracks down on Wall Street abuses". Reuters. Retrieved September 7, 2017. C.J. Mahoney, a lawyer for Litvak, declined to comment.
11. Scarcella, Mike (August 8, 2017). "Williams & Connolly Partner Pay Gets Close-Up From Trump Trade Nominee". Law.com. Retrieved September 7, 2017.
12. "PN826 - Nomination of C. J. Mahoney for Executive Office of the President, 115th Congress (2017-2018)". www.congress.gov. 2018-03-01. Retrieved 2021-02-19.
13. Sherman, Jake; Palmer, Anna; Lippman, Daniel; Ross, Garrett; Okun, Eli (13 March 2019). "POLITICO Playbook PM: A look at the White House's top priority: USMCA". POLITICO. Retrieved 2021-02-19.
14. Hoyer, Steny H. (2020-01-29). "Actions - H.R.5430 - 116th Congress (2019-2020): United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement Implementation Act". www.congress.gov. Retrieved 2021-02-19.
15. Editorial Board. "Opinion | The USMCA deal is a nice return to normalcy". Washington Post. ISSN 0190-8286. Retrieved 2021-02-19.
16. Shalal, David Lawder, Andrea (2020-05-06). "U.S., UK launch trade talks, pledge quick deal as virus ravages global economy". Reuters. Retrieved 2021-02-19.{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
17. "Joint Statement Between the United States and Kenya on the Launch of Negotiations Towards a Free Trade Agreement". U.S. Embassy in Kenya. 2020-07-09. Retrieved 2021-02-19.
18. "Joint statement between the US and the African Union concerning the development of the AfCFTA - Agoa.info - African Growth and Opportunity Act". agoa.info. Retrieved 2021-02-19.
19. "Senate confirms Nemelka to succeed Mahoney as deputy USTR | InsideTrade.com". insidetrade.com. Retrieved 2021-02-19.
20. Bellinger, John (13 January 2020). "A New Legal Adviser Nominee". Lawfare. Retrieved 28 July 2020.
21. Seade, Jesús (January 4, 2020). "Warm congratulations to Amb CJ Mahoney". Twitter. from the original on 2020-01-13. Retrieved February 19, 2021.
22. Bárcena, Martha (January 5, 2020). "Congratulations to Ambassador CJ Mahoney". Twitter. from the original on 2020-01-10. Retrieved February 19, 2021.
23. "A New Legal Adviser Nominee". Lawfare. 2020-01-13. Retrieved 2021-02-19.
24. Goldsmith, Jack (January 3, 2020). "Trump administration makes a terrific nomination for Legal Advisor to the State Department: C.J. Mahoney". Twitter. from the original on 2020-01-05. Retrieved February 19, 2021.
25. "United States Senate Committee on Foreign Relations". www.foreign.senate.gov. Retrieved 2021-02-19.
26. "Business Meeting | United States Senate Committee on Foreign Relations". www.foreign.senate.gov. 29 July 2020. Retrieved 2021-02-19.
27. "PN1338 - Nomination of C.J. Mahoney for Department of State, 116th Congress (2019-2020)". www.congress.gov. 29 July 2020. Retrieved 10 November 2020.
28. "Former deputy USTR Mahoney joins Microsoft | InsideTrade.com". insidetrade.com. Retrieved 2021-02-28.
29. "Rebecca Iverson and Curtis Mahoney". New York Times. August 14, 2005. Retrieved September 9, 2017.