JOSHUA (JOSH) HILL, JR.

SAN FRANCISCO - Joshua (Josh) Hill, Jr. is a partner focused on white collar and regulatory defense, internal investigations and commercial litigation at Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison LLP. He is a former assistant U.S. attorney in the Northern District who investigated and prosecuted a broad range of offenses including wire and mail fraud, bank fraud, criminal tax crimes and violent crimes.

Hill has a master's degree in economics along with his Yale Law School JD. "I have a facility with numbers," he said. "It's helpful in cases involving complex financial evidence."

After law school, he clerked for U.S. District Judge Jack B. Weinstein in the Eastern District of New York, a prominent jurist who died last year.

"That clerkship with Judge Weinstein in the courtroom, analyzing the law and drafting opinions, was one of the highlights of my life," Hill said. "Also, I saw how federal prosecutors worked, and that planted the seeds of what I wanted to do."

Following an early job as a Paul Weiss associate, Hill worked at several other firms, including Sidley Austin LLP and Morrison Foerster LLP, before returning to Paul Weiss in 2021. "I was thrilled to have the opportunity to come back here to practice law at the highest level," he said.

Recently, Hill was co-lead counsel with Christine Y. Wong of Morrison Foerster LLP, defending waste management company Recology in a major San Francisco municipal government scandal. The affair stemmed from an investigation by the U.S. attorney for the Northern District into alleged bribery involving Mohammed Nuru, the former head of San Francisco's public works department.

"Christine Wong and I were AUSAs together in the Northern District, and she's a terrific lawyer," Hill said.

The pair and their team conducted a thorough internal investigation after Recology received subpoenas from both the U.S. attorney and the San Francisco city attorney. The government's probe led to charges against two former Recology employees and multiple former senior city officials and executives of other companies. In September 2021, Hill helped negotiate a $36 million criminal penalty, plus a deferred prosecution agreement for his client. United States v. Recology San Francisco, et al., Case No. 3:21-CR- 00356 (N.D. Cal, filed Sept 9, 2021).

"We paid a fine but avoided criminal charges," Hill said.

Hill also successfully sued the government to enjoin administrative proceedings and retain the right of client International Technological University to enroll international students despite claims the school defrauded the government over student visas. International Technological University Foundation v. Nielsen et al., Case. No. 18-CV-6228 (N.D. Cal, filed Oct. 11, 2018).

"This affirmative suit was an aggressive and novel strategy -- and it worked," Hill said.