Law Day - Quiet Counsel: Looking Back on a Life of Service to the Law

CLICK HERE TO REGISTER TO ATTEND IN PERSON.  Registration closes THURSDAY, MAY 1  at Noon.

To View on Zoom:  Click Here.

Larry D. Thompson serves as Counsel to the Atlanta law firm of Finch McCranie, LLP.

In 2017, Mr. Thompson was appointed by the U.S. Department of Justice as the Independent Corporate Compliance Monitor and Auditor for Volkswagen AG. Mr. Thompson previously served as PepsiCo’s Executive Vice President of Government Affairs, General Counsel and Secretary until his retirement in 2014. At PepsiCo, he was responsible for the company’s worldwide legal function, its government affairs and public policy organizations and its global citizenship and sustainability team. He also oversaw the company’s global compliance function and served as President of the PepsiCo Foundation.

Mr. Thompson’s government career includes serving in the U.S. Department of Justice as the former U.S. Deputy Attorney General under George W. Bush (2001-2003). In 2002, Attorney General John Ashcroft named Mr. Thompson to lead the National Security Coordination Council. Also in 2002, President Bush named Mr. Thompson to head the Corporate Fraud Task Force. He led the Justice Department’s Enron investigation.

Previously, Mr. Thompson was a partner in the Atlanta, Georgia law firm of King & Spalding. From 1982-1986, Mr. Thompson served as the U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Georgia. In that role, he directed the Southern Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Force and served on the Attorney General’s Economic Crime Council. In July 1995, Mr. Thompson was appointed Independent Counsel for the Department of Housing and Urban Development Investigation by the Special Panel of U.S. Circuit Court Judges appointed by the U.S. Supreme Court. In April 2000, Mr. Thompson was selected by Congress to chair the Judicial Review Commission on Foreign Asset Control.

Larry holds a Bachelor of Arts degree from Culver-Stockton College, a Master’s degree from Michigan State University and a Law degree from the University of Michigan, an Honorary Doctor of Laws degree from Pace University in New York, and an Honorary Doctorate from St. Louis University. Larry’s first book, Quiet Counsel, was released in November 2024.