John Ratcliffe

Download vCard

Download PDF Bio

John Ratcliffe brings more than 20 years of professional legal and governmental experience to the Ashcroft Group and the Ashcroft Law Firm. Mr. Ratcliffe’s expertise includes government investigations, regulatory compliance, corporate governance issues, white collar fraud and complex commercial litigation.

As the U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Texas under President George W. Bush, Mr. Ratcliffe successfully directed thousands of federal prosecutions involving terrorism, drug trafficking, public corruption, corporate and health care fraud, illegal immigration, child exploitation, environmental crimes and capital murder cases. Mr. Ratcliffe managed a combined staff of more than 100 federal prosecutors and support personnel in 6 district offices and financially operated a $12 million annual budget.

Mr. Ratcliffe’s high profile cases included one of the nation’s largest illegal immigration enforcement actions, which resulted in the arrest of almost 300 individuals in a single day; the prosecution of an international shipping company that resulted in the largest ever criminal fine in U.S. history for deliberate vessel pollution; and serving by special appointment as a prosecutor in one of nation’s first post 9/11 terrorism financing cases. Mr. Ratcliffe served on the Attorney General’s Advisory Subcommittee on Terrorism and National Security, where he helped to revise national anti-terrorism strategies and advocate for national security provisions of the Patriot Act. Prior to his appointment as the U.S. Attorney, Mr. Ratcliffe served as the Chief of Anti-Terrorism and National Security for the Eastern District of Texas.

Since leaving the Department of Justice, Mr. Ratcliffe has been appointed by various federal agencies to serve in independent consulting and monitoring roles on corporate and regulatory compliance matters. Mr. Ratcliffe frequently works with governmental authorities, Fortune 500 companies and corporate executives in conducting internal investigations and compliance reviews involving the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, False Claims Act and various international, federal and state anti-kickback laws. Mr. Ratcliffe also serves on several oversight and advisory boards, including the TEEX Advisory Council for Texas A&M University, the largest homeland security, emergency response and public safety training facility in the world.

A graduate of the University of Notre Dame and Southern Methodist University School of Law, Mr. Ratcliffe is board certified in Civil Trial Law by the National Board of Trial Advocacy. He has served as Adjunct Professor of Law at various law schools, including SMU and Texas Wesleyan University.  Mr. Ratcliffe is presently serving as the Mayor of Heath, Texas, a community of more than 8,000 residents.