The federal prosecutor’s position in Manhattan now has a fresh face: Richard Zabel has been promoted to Deputy United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York.  He succeeds Boyd Johnson III, who's been Preet Bharara's #2 attorney since 2009, when Bharara was appointed by President Obama.  Johnson is leaving to be a partner in the trial litigation and white collar practice group at WilmerHale.  As a federal prosecutor, Mr. Johnson won acclaim for leading the prosecution of former Gov. Eliot Spitzer. These last 2 years, Zabel has run the Southern District’s criminal division - handling some of the nation’s most prominent insider trading cases, a spy prosecution, and a string of terrorism, public corruption and international narcotics cases. Prior to his federal service, Richard Zabel was with Akin Gump Strauss Hauser & Feld, representing clients in federal and state investigations.  In the 1990s, he served as a prosecutor in the Southern District, including running the office’s narcotics unit. Before returning as criminal chief, Zabel co-authored 2 reports on prosecuting terrorism cases in the federal courts.  The widely cited works, which were prepared for Human Rights First, offered strong support for the use of the courts in such cases. Jonathan Kolodner, chief of the Southern District’s complex frauds unit, will serve as acting head of the criminal division.   [Dealbook, 9/22/11]