Jim Woolsey, of counsel in Goodwin Procter’s Business Law Department, focuses on alternative energy and security related issues. He joined the firm in 2008.

Work for Clients

Mr. Woolsey advises clients in a variety of security, energy and clean tech matters.

Professional Activities

Mr. Woolsey is currently co-chairman (with former Secretary of State George Shultz) of the Committee on the Present Danger. He is also chairman of the Advisory Boards of the Clean Fuels Foundation and the New Uses Council, a trustee of the Center for Strategic & International Studies and the Center for Strategic & Budgetary Assessments, and serves on the National Commission on Energy Policy.

Mr. Woolsey is a Senior Executive Advisor to Booz Allen Hamilton. Previously, Mr. Woolsey was chairman of the Executive Committee of the Board of Regents of The Smithsonian Institution, and a trustee of Stanford University, The Goldwater Scholarship Foundation and the Aerospace Corporation. He has also been a member of The National Commission on Terrorism, The Commission to Assess the Ballistic Missile Threat to the U.S. (Rumsfeld Commission), The President’s Commission on Federal Ethics Law Reform, The President’s Blue Ribbon Commission on Defense Management (Packard Commission), and The President’s Commission on Strategic Forces (Scowcroft Commission). He has served in the past as a member of boards of directors of a number of other publicly and privately held companies, generally in fields related to technology and security, including Martin Marietta, British Aerospace, Inc., Fairchild Industries, Yurie Systems, Inc. and USF&G. Mr. Woolsey also served as a member of the Board of Governors of the Philadelphia Stock Exchange.

Publications/Presentations

Mr. Woolsey is a frequent contributor of articles to major publications, and has given public speeches and media interviews on the subjects of foreign affairs, defense, energy, critical infrastructure protection and resilience, and intelligence.

Professional Experience

Prior to joining Goodwin Procter, Mr. Woolsey was a Vice President and officer at Booz Allen Hamilton. He previously served in the U.S. Government on five different occasions, holding Presidential appointments in two Republican and two Democratic administrations. Mr. Woolsey was also a partner at the law firm of Shea & Gardner, which combined with Goodwin Procter in 2004.

During his 12 years of government service, Mr. Woolsey was Director of Central Intelligence, 1993 to 1995; Ambassador to the Negotiation on Conventional Armed Forces in Europe (CFE), Vienna, 1989 to 1991; Under Secretary of the Navy, 1977 to 1979; and General Counsel to the U.S. Senate Committee on Armed Services, 1970 to 1973. He was also appointed by the President as Delegate at Large to the U.S.-Soviet Strategic Arms Reduction Talks (START) and Nuclear and Space Arms Talks (NST), and served in that capacity on a part-time basis in Geneva, Switzerland, 1983 to 1986. As an officer in the U.S. Army, Mr. Woolsey was an adviser on the U.S. Delegation to the Strategic Arms Limitation Talks (SALT I), Helsinki and Vienna, 1969 to 1970.

Bar and Court Admissions

Mr. Woolsey is admitted to practice in the District of Columbia and California.

Education

LL.B., Yale Law School, 1968
M.A., Oxford University, 1965 (Rhodes Scholar)
B.A., Stanford University, 1963 (with great distinction, Phi Beta Kappa)

While attending law school, Mr. Woolsey was the Managing Editor of the Yale Law Journal.