Joycelyn (pronounced “Joyce-lynn”) Peyton joined Charlson Bredehoft Cohen Brown & Nadelhaft in March 2026. She brings more than eleven years of federal trial experience to the firm, including nearly a decade as a senior trial attorney at the U.S. Department of Justice, Civil Division. Ms. Peyton’s background in federal government and, before that, representing Fortune 500 corporations, gives her deep insight into how institutions build their defenses when challenged. She applies that strategic knowledge to her practice at the firm on behalf of employees in discrimination, civil rights, retaliation, and complex federal civil litigation.

Ms. Peyton is primarily a litigator. At the Department of Justice, she served as lead counsel in more than 100 complex civil cases across multiple U.S. District Courts, taking matters through summary judgment, settlement, and trial. Ms. Peyton is undaunted by powerful opponents. In 2021, she won a trial verdict against a sitting judge, for which she received the Department’s Outstanding Performance Award. She earned a second Outstanding Performance Award in 2023 for her role in a multi-defendant prosecution involving complex financial fraud. Over the course of her tenure, Ms. Peyton secured more than $10 million in judgments and settlements, building a practice that spanned government enforcement actions, regulatory and compliance disputes, and other high-stakes federal litigation.

Before her government service, Ms. Peyton was an associate at Jenner & Block, LLP in Washington, D.C., where she represented Fortune 500 clients in complex commercial litigation, internal investigations, international arbitration, and corporate monitorships involving antitrust, securities, and Foreign Corrupt Practices Act matters. That work gave her a firsthand knoweledge of how large corporations and their defense counsel evaluate and litigate claims brought against them.

Ms. Peyton’s commitment to community runs throughout her career. She has provided more than 400 hours of pro bono representation to families and incarcerated individuals in child custody, family law, and federal sentencing matters in the District of Columbia. She also serves as a board member for the Anna V. Waters Scholarship Fund, a Baltimore-based § 501(c)(3) organization supporting African-American students with a grade point average of 2.0 to 2.9 in accessing higher education.

Ms. Peyton is also a proud graduate of The University of Chicago Law School and Howard University in Washington, D.C. Outside of the office, she enjoys literature and philosophy, tai chi, and spending time with her husband and three daughters.