George Croner

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George Croner
Born United States
Nationality American
Alma mater United States Naval Academy (B.S., 1975); University of Pennsylvania Law School (J.D., 1980)
Occupation Attorney and Commentator on National Security and Foreign Intelligence Issues

George Croner (also known as George W. Croner) is an American attorney.

Education

George W. Croner graduated with a B.S. degree (with distinction) from the U.S. Naval Academy in 1975. In 1980, he graduated with a J.D., cum laude, from the University of Pennsylvania Law School.

Career

George W. Croner joined the nationally recognized law firm of Kohn, Savett, Klein & Graf, P.C. (the “Kohn firm”) in 1988 following eight years (1981 to 1988) as a member of the Judge Advocate General's Corps of the U.S. Navy and 17 years of total service in the Navy.

His U.S. government service included assignment as the first Navy JAG ever designated as a full-time Special Assistant U.S. Attorney in the Eastern District of Pennsylvania, where he worked from 1982 to 1983.

National Security Agency

From 1984 through 1988, while holding the highest security clearance authorized by the U.S. government (TS/SCI), Mr. Croner served in the Operations Division of the Office of General Counsel at the National Security Agency (NSA), which had legal oversight responsibility for NSA’s signals intelligence (SIGINT) operations, including compliance with the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA).

During this same period, Croner also was NSA’s principal litigation counsel. While serving in this role, he represented NSA’s interests in various litigation matters implicating the security interests of NSA’s SIGINT operations including the following:

Westmoreland v. CBS (the defamation lawsuit brought by General William Westmoreland that raised issues concerning the intelligence information used to assess North Vietnamese troop strength during the Vietnam War)

  • U.S. v. John Walker (espionage prosecution)
  • U.S. v. Jerry Whitworth (espionage prosecution)
  • U.S. v. Wu-tai Chin (espionage prosecution)
  • U.S. v. Ronald Pelton (espionage prosecution)

In particular, the U.S. v. Ronald Pelton case, involved some of NSA’s then-most sensitive SIGINT collection programs.

Croner received a Defense Meritorious Service Medal (DMSM) for his work in connection with these espionage prosecutions.

In addition to these litigation matters, Mr. Croner also served as the NSA representative to the White House interagency group assembled to review and, where possible, declassify intelligence information associated with the Iran-Contra investigation. In this capacity he assisted the Tower Commission, congressional intelligence committees, and the Independent Counsel regarding security matters related to the use and understanding of NSA intelligence product. For his efforts with this interagency group, Mr. Croner received a letter of appreciation from President Ronald Reagan, and was awarded a second DMSM.

Private law practice

George Croner joined the Kohn firm in 1988 and continued with the firm as a shareholder and director until his retirement in May 2016. During his active practice with the firm, he represented both plaintiffs and defendants in securities and other complex litigation involving both class and individual cases. He was appointed lead counsel in a number of class actions in both federal and state courts. As a representative sample, in November 1995, Mr. Croner was appointed as lead counsel for two classes certified by the U.S. District Court for the District of Colorado where he represented over 6800 limited partners in their litigation against Tele-Communications, Inc., (“TCI”) which was, at the time, the largest cable television operator in the United States. In November 1996, Mr. Croner was appointed as lead counsel for the class certified in Solo, et al. v. Duval County Housing Finance Authority, et al. and, in this capacity, represented a class of over 500 municipal bondholders in Florida state court. Then, in January 1997, Mr. Croner and the Kohn firm were appointed lead counsel in Goldenberg, et al. v. Marriott PLP Corp., et al.

He also has served as co-lead class counsel in In re Nantucket Island Associates Limited Partnership Unitholders Litigation, in the Delaware Court of Chancery, where the Court approved a settlement in the amount of $9.75 million in May 2003, in Alexander v. Two Winthrop Properties, Inc., et al., where he obtained an award of nearly $6.9 million on behalf of limited partners in a contested arbitration proceeding conducted in July 2004, and in Zimmerman v. GFB-AS Investors, LLC, (Del. Ch. 2009). In Mitchell Partners, L.P. v. Irex Corp., Mr. Croner convinced both the Third Circuit Court of Appeals (2011) and the Pa. Supreme Court (2012) to accept an unprecedented interpretation of Pennsylvania corporate law regarding appraisal rights in merger transactions.

Recognition

During his military service in the U.S. Navy, Mr. Croner was awarded two Defense Meritorious Service Medals, a Meritorious Service Medal, a Navy Commendation Medal, and the National Defense Medal.

As a lawyer, he has been awarded the “AV”® rating which is the highest rating conferred by the Martindale-Hubbell legal rating system. He also received an Award of Professional Merit from the American Bar Association in 1980 for attaining the highest standing among all lawyers completing the military justice course at the Naval Justice School in Newport, RI.

Current activities and affiliations

Although retired from the active practice of law, Mr. Croner remains ‘Of Counsel’ to the Kohn firm. Additionally, Mr. Croner has continued to pursue his interests in FISA, foreign intelligence collection, and national security issues. In January 2018, Mr. Croner was named a Senior Fellow at the Foreign Policy Research Institute (fpri.org) which provides a forum for his extensive writings on FISA, signals intelligence and foreign intelligence collection. His articles on national security and foreign intelligence matters have appeared on multiple platforms

He remains a member of the bars of the following courts:

  • U.S. Supreme Court
  • U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit
  • U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania
  • Supreme Court of Pennsylvania

He also is a member of the Association of Former Intelligence Officers and serves on the Advisory Council for the Center for Ethics and the Rule of Law (CERL) at the University of Pennsylvania.

Bibliography

Croner's articles on national security and foreign intelligence matters have been published in many different print publications, as well as multiple digital platforms.

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