{{Short description|American lawyer (born 1961)}} {{for|persons of a similar name|Joseph Hunt (disambiguation)}} {{Use mdy dates|date=August 2018}} {{Infobox officeholder |name = Jody Hunt |image = Jody Hunt official photo.jpg |office = United States Assistant Attorney General for the Civil Division |president = Donald Trump |term_start = September 4, 2018 |term_end = July 3, 2020 |predecessor = Stuart Delery |successor = Brett A. Shumate (2025) |birth_name = Joseph Harold Hunt |birth_date = {{birth date and age|1961|09|30}} |birth_place = Tupelo, Mississippi, U.S. |death_date = |death_place = |party = |education = Samford University (BA)<br>Florida State University (MA)<br>Columbia University (JD) }} '''Joseph Harold Hunt''' (born September 30, 1961) is an American lawyer. He was the United States Assistant Attorney General for the Civil Division of the Department of Justice from September 2018 to July 2020.<ref name="WHBio">{{cite web |url=https://trumpwhitehouse.archives.gov/presidential-actions/president-donald-j-trump-announces-key-additions-administration-7/ |title=President Donald J. Trump Announces Key Additions to his Administration |date=September 15, 2017 |access-date=August 22, 2018 |via=National Archives |work=whitehouse.gov |quote=}} {{PD-notice}}</ref>
== Education ==
Hunt received his Bachelor of Arts from Samford University in 1982, where he was the valedictorian. He earned a Master of Arts from Florida State University in 1984, and a Juris Doctor from Columbia Law School in 1989, where he was recognized as Best Oralist in the national phase of the Philip C. Jessup International Law Moot Court Competition.<ref name="Senate Judiciary">{{cite web |url=https://www.judiciary.senate.gov/imo/media/doc/Hunt%20SJQ.pdf |title=Questionnaire for Non-Judicial Nominees |website=judiciary.senate.gov |access-date=August 22, 2018}} {{PD-notice}}</ref>
== Career ==
After graduating from law school, Hunt clerked for Judge James Hughes Hancock of the United States District Court for the Northern District of Alabama.
=== Private practice === After clerking, Hunt worked for five years at White & Case as an associate, and four years at King & Spalding, where he became a partner.<ref name="WHBio" /><ref name="Senate Judiciary" />
=== U.S. Department of Justice === In 1999, Hunt joined the United States Department of Justice Civil Division's Federal Programs branch, where he was a trial attorney until 2002. From 2001 to 2002, Hunt was detailed to the Office of the United States Deputy Attorney General. In 2002, Hunt became Director of the Federal Programs Branch.
After Jeff Sessions became United States Attorney General in February 2017, Hunt served as his chief of staff until October of that year. Hunt became a senior advisor to the Office of Legal Policy in October 2017, in which capacity he remained September 2018.<ref name="WHBio" /><ref name="Senate Judiciary" />
=== Assistant Attorney General ===
On September 14, 2017, President Donald Trump announced his intent to nominate Hunt to become the United States Assistant Attorney General for the Civil Division. Hunt's nomination was sent to the Senate on December 11, 2017.<ref>{{cite web |title=Presidential Nomination 1319, 115th United States Congress |date=December 11, 2017 |url=https://www.congress.gov/nomination/115th-congress/1319 |publisher=United States Congress |access-date=August 22, 2018}}</ref>
The nomination was not acted upon, so on January 3, 2018, it was returned to the President under Rule XXXI, Paragraph 6 of the United States Senate.<ref>[https://www.congress.gov/congressional-record/2018/1/3/daily-digest "Congressional Record", United States Senate, January 3, 2018]</ref> Hunt was renominated on January 8, 2018, and had a confirmation hearing on March 7, 2018, before the Senate Judiciary Committee.<ref>{{cite web |title=Presidential Nomination 1414, 115th United States Congress |date=January 8, 2018 |url=https://www.congress.gov/nomination/115th-congress/1414 |publisher=United States Congress |access-date=August 22, 2018}}</ref> On April 19, 2018, Hunt's nomination was reported out of committee by an 18–3 vote.<ref>[https://www.judiciary.senate.gov/imo/media/doc/Results%20of%20Executive%20Business%20Meeting%2004-19-18.pdf Results of Executive Business Meeting – April 19, 2018, Senate Judiciary Committee]</ref> On August 28, 2018, the Senate voted to confirm him to head the Civil Division by a vote of 72–23.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.senate.gov/legislative/LIS/roll_call_lists/roll_call_vote_cfm.cfm?congress=115&session=2&vote=00198|title=On the Nomination (Confirmation Joseph H. Hunt, of Maryland, to be an Assistant Attorney General)|last=|first=|date=August 28, 2018|website=United States Senate|access-date=August 29, 2018|language=en}}</ref> Hunt was sworn in on September 4, 2018. He oversaw the legal defense of Trump administration policies, as well as the general refusal to respond to Congressional oversight authority. Hunt declared that he would leave his position in early July 2020.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Barber |first1=C. Ryan |title=DOJ's Jody Hunt, Head of Key Division Defending Trump in Court, to Step Down |url=https://www.law.com/nationallawjournal/2020/06/16/dojs-jody-hunt-head-of-key-division-defending-trump-in-court-to-step-down/ |website=National Law Journal |access-date=17 June 2020 |language=en |date=16 June 2020}}</ref>
=== Samford University === On March 1, 2023, Hunt became general counsel of his alma mater, Samford University, in Birmingham, Alabama. He succeeded Clark Watson in the post.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2023-02-08 |title=Hunt named Samford's next general counsel as Watson looks toward retirement {{!}} The Alabama Baptist |url=https://thealabamabaptist.org/hunt-named-samfords-next-general-counsel-as-watson-looks-toward-retirement/ |access-date=2023-05-15 |website=thealabamabaptist.org |language=en-US}}</ref>
== References == {{Reflist}}
== External links ==
{{s-start}} {{s-legal}} {{s-bef|before=Chad Readler<br>{{small|Acting}}}} {{s-ttl|title={{nowrap|United States Assistant Attorney General for the Civil Division}}|years=2018–2020}} {{s-aft|after=Ethan Davis<br>{{small|Acting}}}} {{s-end}}
{{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Hunt, Joseph Harold}} Category:1961 births Category:Living people Category:20th-century American lawyers Category:21st-century American lawyers Category:Columbia Law School alumni Category:Florida State University alumni Category:Georgia (U.S. state) lawyers Category:Lawyers from Washington, D.C. Category:People from Tupelo, Mississippi Category:Samford University alumni Category:First Trump administration personnel Category:United States assistant attorneys general for the Civil Division Category:United States Department of Justice lawyers