Thomas Donilon

Partner

Tom Donilon is a partner in O’Melveny’s Washington, DC Office, serves on the firm’s governing committee, and heads the firm’s Strategic Counseling Practice. Tom advises companies and their boards on a range of sensitive governance, policy, legal, and regulatory matters. Tom also served as the national partner charged with overseeing the firm’s public interest and pro bono initiatives and led the firm’s successful effort to revitalize its pro bono commitment. The results of that effort were instrumental in the firm being named this year to the American Lawyer’s “A List” of top 20 US law firms. Tom was previously the Executive Vice President for Law and Policy at Fannie Mae.

Tom is among the most experienced policy and legal professionals in Washington. Tom served as Assistant Secretary of State for Public Affairs and Chief of Staff at the US Department of State during the Clinton Administration. In these capacities he traveled to over 50 countries representing the United States and was involved intensively in the development and implementation of the Department’s major policy efforts, including the Balkans and Middle East peace negotiations, the expansion of NATO, and US-China policy. He was awarded the Secretary of State’s Distinguished Service Award—the Department’s highest award—in November 1996. Since leaving the State Department, Tom has been remained deeply involved in the national security arena. He speaks frequently on foreign policy and is a member of the Council of Foreign Relations, where he has served on Task Forces on State Department Reorganization and Transatlantic Relations, the Aspen Strategy Group, the National Security Advisory Group to the Congressional Leadership, the Brookings Institution Board of Trustees (where he co chairs the Institution’s 2008 policy development effort), the Miller Center of Public Affairs Governing Council, and the Trilateral Commission.

Prior to his service at the State Department, Tom was involved in a broad range of legal, policy, and political capacities. He was senior counsel to the 1992 Clinton-Gore Transition effort, led then-Governor Clinton’s 1992 general election debate preparation (and has been involved in the preparation of presidential candidates for general election debates since 1984), managed two national nominating conventions, served as a CBS News national political consultant, and served in the White House during the Carter Administration and as aide to President Carter in his transition to private life.