James Byrne (lawyer)

James Byrne is an American lawyer who currently serves as General Counsel of the United States Department of Veterans Affairs.

Education
Byrne receive an undergraduate engineering degree from the United States Naval Academy, where he was a brigade commander. He earned his J.D. from Stetson University College of Law. After law school, he clerked for Judge Malcolm Jones Howard of the United States District Court for the Eastern District of North Carolina.

Career
Byrne has served as a deployed Marine Infantry Officer. In 2004, he served active duty with the United States Marine Corps for 18 months, where he was an officer in charge of the Marine Liaison Office at medical centers in Maryland. In this capacity, he supported injured and deceased marines and their families.

Byrne worked for the United States Department of Justice as an international narcotics prosecutor. He has also served as a career Senior Executive Service Deputy Special Counsel with the United States Office of Special Counsel and as both General Counsel and Assistant Inspector General for Investigations with the Special Inspector General for Iraq Reconstruction.

Prior to becoming General Counsel of the United States Department of Veterans Affairs, Byrne was Associate General Counsel and Chief Privacy Officer at Lockheed Martin. At Lockheed Martin, he also served as the company's primary cyber and counterintelligence attorney.