Michael Harper

Michael Harper joined the Justice Department’s Foreign Corrupt Practices Act unit as a trial attorney in August 2016.

Harper obtained his bachelor’s degree in history and communications from Boston College in 2005. After graduation, he interned at the Center for the Implementation of Public Policies Promoting Equity and Growth (CIPPEC), a non-profit organisation that advocates for a more democratic government in Argentina.

After interning with CIPPEC, Harper moved to Washington, DC, where he studied law at Georgetown University Law Center, earning his degree in 2009.

While studying for his law degree, Harper interned at Central American firm Arias & Munoz Centroamérica in 2007, and then worked as a summer associate in 2008 at Jones Day, where he would secure a permanent position a year later. Harper also worked as a law clerk for Republican John McCain’s presidential campaign in 2008.

The Georgetown law graduate joined Jones Day as a full-time associate in 2009 in the firm’s Palo Alto office. In 2012, Harper, who speaks both Portuguese and Spanish, moved to São Paulo, Brazil, where he covered antitrust matters, complex civil and international litigation, and internal corporate investigations for Jones Day.

According to his Linkedin profile, he has also worked on FCPA and money laundering cases across Latin America.

Harper – from Phoenix, Arizona – is married to Ashley Zais, who represented South Carolina in the Miss USA 2007 beauty pageant.