James Percival has been nominated as General Counsel for the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), bringing extensive legal and policy experience at the state and federal levels to the role.
Percival previously served as Chief of Staff for Florida Attorney General Ashley Moody, overseeing legal and policy initiatives. Before that, he was Deputy Attorney General of Legal Policy and Chief Deputy Solicitor General for the State of Florida. He has also served as a Commissioner for the First District Court of Appeal Judicial Nominating Commission and was appointed by Florida Governor Ron DeSantis to the State Retirement Commission.
Prior to his work in Florida, Percival served in the U.S. Department of Justice as Counsel to Associate Attorney General Rachel Brand and Senior Counsel to Acting Associate Attorney General Jesse Panuccio. He also worked as an attorney at Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton and clerked for Judge Emmett Ripley Cox of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit. In addition to his legal career, he teaches a course on emergency litigation at Florida State University College of Law.
Percival earned his bachelor’s degree from the University of California, Santa Barbara, and his Juris Doctor from the University of Virginia School of Law, where he was Notes Editor for the Virginia Law Review.
If confirmed, Percival will serve as the top legal advisor to DHS, guiding policies on immigration, cybersecurity, and homeland security operations.