John Law

Deputy Chief of Mission John Law

John Law arrived in August 2011 as Deputy Chief of Mission of the US Embassy in Panama. He is a career Senior Foreign Service officer.

Before coming to Panama he served as Director of the State Department's PRT Office in Kabul, Afghanistan, overseeing the work of approximately 400 Embassy officers from four agencies at over 80 sites throughout Afghanistan.  Prior to that, he served in Prague as Acting Deputy Chief of Mission (2009-10).

His other assignments at U.S. embassies include Counselor for Public Affairs in Prague; press spokesman in Madrid and Caracas; and public diplomacy positions in Santiago, Chile, Seoul and Taegu (Republic of Korea).

He speaks Spanish, Czech, Korean and French.  He is married to Joanne Law; they have two adult daughters and one granddaughter. Before joining the Foreign Service in 1990, they lived in Spain for five years.  He has a Master's degree in English literature, with undergraduate studies in literature, philosophy and engineering.  He is originally from the state of West Virginia.