July 26-27, 1999
Montreal, Canada

Speaker Biography

Andrew J. Pincus

General Council
US Department of Commerce

Andrew J. Pincus was nominated by President Clinton and confirmed by the United States Senate to serve as General Counsel for the U.S. Department of Commerce. Mr. Pincus was sworn in on April 27, 1997.

As General Counsel, Mr. Pincus is the chief legal advisor for the Department. Beyond his legal responsibilities, Mr. Pincus also serves as a senior policy advisor for the Secretary and the Department on a broad range of domestic and international issues, including electronic commerce, international trade, telecommunications, intellectual property rights, environmental issues, export controls and technology.

Prior to joining the Commerce Department, Mr. Pincus was a partner at the Washington, DC law firm of Mayer, Brown & Platt from 1988 to 1997, where he focused on Supreme Court and appellate litigation and legislative policy. From 1984 to 1988, he was Assistant to the Solicitor General at the U.S. Department of Justice; and from 1982 to 1984, Mr. Pincus was an associate at the firm of Hughes, Hubbard & Reed in Washington, DC.

Mr. Pincus began his career as a judicial clerk to U.S. District Judge Harold H. Greene (1981-1982). He holds a Bachelor of Arts degree from Yale College (1977), where he graduated cum laude, and a law degree from the Columbia University School of Law (1981), where he was the James Kent Scholar, Harlan Fiske Stone Scholar and Notes and Comments Editor of The Law Review.

Mr. Pincus, 41, was born in New York, New York. He resides in Washington, DC with his wife and their two children.