John D. Altenburg

Professorial Lecturer in Law


Contact:

2000 H Street, NW Washington DC 20052

A principal with the Washington D.C. office of the international law firm Greenberg Traurig, John D. Altenburg was a consultant on Ethics and Business Conduct to the President of the World Bank Group before joining Greenberg Traurig in November of 2002. His practice focuses on corporate governance, investigations, and contract litigation.

His national security law experience includes service or legal oversight in Vietnam, Iraq, Somalia, Haiti, Bosnia, and Kosovo. From 1997 to 2001, he was The Deputy Judge Advocate General of the Army and Designated Senior Ethics Official for the Army. His eight years trial experience as prosecutor and defense lawyer foreshadowed six years supervising 700 felony prosecutions in Germany and the U.S.; numerous high-profile cases among them and extensive experience teaching and lecturing advocacy and litigation skills. 

He has lectured frequently in Europe, Asia, Latin America, and numerous U.S. law schools on leadership and mentoring, trial advocacy, legal aspects of peacekeeping and combat operations, and other national security issues. He was the U.S. Representative on the Experts Panel at the International Institute of Humanitarian Law in San Remo, Italy. He was the General of the Army Omar N. Bradley Chair for Strategic Leadership, Academic Year 2010-2011. The Bradley Chair offers a visiting scholar the opportunity to encourage civilian-military dialogue and share lessons on leadership, globalization, technology and cultural change with students and faculty at The Penn State University College of Law, Dickinson College, and the Army War College. He is the co-author of “Terrorism, State Responsibility, and the Uses of Military Force” in the Chicago Journal of International Law, and is the author of “Rhetoric or Reality: Winning the Battle of Ideas” in the Barry Law Review, and “Just Three Mistakes!” in the Case Western Reserve Journal of International Law.


BA, Wayne State University; JD, University of Cincinnati; MMAS, U.S. Army Command and General Staff College