Jennifer S Freel

Practice Areas

Investigations & White Collar Defense; Trial & Appellate Litigation; Cybersecurity, Data Protection, & Privacy

Career

A former federal prosecutor, Jennifer Freel advises businesses and individuals under investigation by the government and conducts internal investigations for companies. As part of this practice, Jennifer helps clients defend their assets against government seizure. Drawing on her extensive courtroom experience, Jennifer also represents clients in civil disputes at the pre-trial, trial, and appellate levels in state and federal court.

In her previous role as an Assistant U.S. Attorney in the Western District of Texas, Jennifer prosecuted a variety of white collar crimes as well as cases involving child exploitation, narcotics conspiracies, illegal immigration, and firearms offenses. Her practice included appellate matters, as she defended convictions from across the district. She has argued 25 times before the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals.

Before becoming a prosecutor, Jennifer clerked for Judge Fortunato Benavides, who served on the Fifth Circuit. She has been appointed to the Western District of Texas Attorney Discipline Committee and the Criminal Justice Act appellate panel for the Austin Division of the Western District of Texas. Jennifer is an elected Fellow of the Texas Bar Foundation, a member of the Women’s White Collar Criminal Defense Association, a barrister in the Robert W. Calvert American Inn of Court, a past chair of the Criminal Law Section of the Federal Bar Association, and a past president of the Austin Chapter of the Federal Bar Association.​​​​

Prior to attending law school, Jennifer worked as a broadcast news reporter at the NBC affiliate in Columbia, Missouri and the ABC affiliate in Baton Rouge, Louisiana.

Professional Memberships

- Women’s White Collar Criminal Defense Association, Austin Chapter Leader

- Texas Supreme Court Historical Society, Board of Trustees

- Criminal Justice Act Panel (Appeals) for the Western District of Texas – Austin Division

- Western District of Texas Disciplinary Committee, Vice-Chair

- Robert W. Calvert Inn of Court

- Federal Bar Association

- Austin Bar Association

- The Federalist Society

- Mother Attorney Mentor Association (MAMAs Austin)

- UT Law CLE’s Conference on State and Federal Appeals, Planning Committee

- UT Law CLE’s Government Enforcement Institute, Planning Committee

Publications

- Co-Author, "Docket Check Update: US Supreme Court Declines to Decide Whether Attorney-Client Privilege Protects Dual-Purpose Communications," Jackson Walker Insights (January 2023)

- Co-Author, "US Supreme Court to Decide Whether the Government Can Prove Knowledge When the Defendant’s Regulatory Interpretation Is 'Objectively Reasonable,'" Jackson Walker Insights (January 2023)

- Co-Author, "Major Case Alert: Is the Fifth Circuit About to Transform How Courts Apply Sentencing Guidelines?" Jackson Walker Insights (January 2023)

- Speaker, “Panel 1: Rising Crime Rates and Criminal Justice Reform,” The Federalist Society’s Eighth Annual Texas Chapters Conference (October 2022)

- Co-Author, “Docket Check: US Supreme Court to Decide Key Criminal and Regulatory Cases this Term,” Jackson Walker Insights (October 2022)

- Co-Author, “DOJ Officials Announce New Priorities to Combat Corporate Crime with Additional Details Provided at Government Enforcement Conference in Dallas,” Jackson Walker Insights (September 2022)

- Speaker, “Career Basics Litigation Panel,” University of Texas School of Law (August 2022)

- Co-Author, “U.S. Supreme Court to Decide Standard for DOJ Dismissal of Qui Tam Cases,” Jackson Walker Insights (June 2022)

- Co-Author, “Help! The Government Seized My Privileged Documents! What a Recent Fifth Circuit Case Says About How to Respond” (September 2021)

- Co-Author, “A Win for Insureds: Fifth Circuit Finds Duty-to-Defend Data Breach Suit under Personal and Advertising Injury Clause in CGL Policy” (July 2021)

- Co-Author, “Insider Trading Update: Recent Developments and Compliance Risks” (June 2021)

- Co-Author, “Business School Ranking Scandal Tests the Scope of Federal Fraud Statutes” (June 2021)

- Co-Author, “Hacking the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act: The Supreme Court Narrows the Reach of the CFAA’s “Exceeds Authorized Access” Provision” (June 2021)