NAFUSA member Peter Vaira once again has provided detailed summaries of the conference. Click here to read Peter’s summaries of the Santa Fe conference presentations, including Steve Easton’s presentation on expert witnesses, the panel on Southwest border issues, the WikiLeaks panel and Stewart Youngs’s presentation on the Supreme Court term 2010-2011.
NAFUSA member Ira Raphaelson, who served as the United States Attorney for the Northern District of Illinois from 1989-1990, was named Executive Vice President and General Counsel of Las Vegas Sands, Corp., beginning November 1, 2011, where he will be responsible for the company’s legal affairs worldwide. Raphaelson previously served as Vice President, General Counsel and Secretary to the Board of Directors of Scientific Games Corportation, a leader in the lottery industry.
In addition to serving as U.S. Attorney, Raphaelson was appointed by President George H.W. Bush as Special Counsel for Financial Institutions. He also served as Counsel to the Attorney General (1991-1993). He earned his J.D. from Northwestern University. He is married with three children and two grandchildren.
Luiza and Charlie Savage at the Santa Fe conference
The New York Times correspondent Charlie Savage is not the only journalist in the Savage family. Charlie’s wife, Luiza Savage, is a corresondent for Macleans.ca, the Canadian weekly news magazine. Charlie has attended the past two NAFUSA conferences. In New York City in 2010, he moderated the panel discussion on the appropriate forum in which to prosecute terrorism cases. Charlie continues to follow this still unsettled issue. See, for instance, Charlie’s October 28, 2011 article in The Times. In Santa Fe, Charlie moderated the panel on the Southwest border and was a WikiLeads panelist.
Luiza Savage accompanied Charlie to Santa Fe. She put her time to good use when she interviewed another WikiLeaks panelist, Valerie Plame Wilson, at La Posada following the panel. Luiza’s interview of Valerie Plame can be read here.
Charlie Savage and Valerie Plame Wilson on the WikiLeaks panel
Harvard Law Professor Jack Goldsmith, former Assistant Attorney General, Office of Legal Counsel, argues why the U.S. shouldn’t try Julian Assange.
In a second Main Justice video, former federal prosecutor Eric Snyder argues the case for prosecution. Goldsmith and Snyder were joined on the panel at the Santa Fe conference by 2007 Pulitzer Prize winner Charlie Savage, now Washington correspondent for The New York Times, Ken Wainstein, who served in many high ranking positions in the Bush Administration, including the first Assistant Attorney General for National Security, and Valerie Plame Wilson, a former covert CIA operations officer whose name became public as a result of a well publized leak. The panel was moderated by NAFUSA Executive Director Rich Rossman.
Department of Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano was keynote speaker at the NAFUSA Conference in Santa Fe on October 1st. Outgoing NAFUSA president Bill Lutz gave the introduction.
At the NAFUSA Conference, Hawaii Assitant U.S. Attorney Ken Sorenson discussed the prosecution of former Northrop engineer Noshir Gowadia, convicted of selling classified military information to the Chinese. Sorenson won the 2011 J. Michael Bradford award for the case.
On Saturday, October 1, 2011, Richard H. Deane, Jr., became the 32nd president of NAFUSA. At the concluding banquet of the Santa Fe conference, Rick was introduced by outgoing president Bill Lutz. Rick promply lauded the job done by Bill and his wife, Jeanne, in organizing the outstanding conference in New Mexico. Rick then presented Bill with a NAFUSA’s gift of a high powered telescope to view the New Mexico skies above Bill’s home in Las Cruces.
Rick Deane served as United States Attorney for the Northern District of Georgia, 1998-2001. He was also a Magistrate Judge, U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Georgia. He previously served as an Assistant United States Attorney in the District from 1980-1994. Rick is currently a partner in the Atlanta office of Jones Day, where he is co-chair of the Firm’s Corporate Criminal Investigations Practice and a member of the American College of Trial Lawyers.
On Saturday evening, the following officers for 2011-2012 were elected: President Elect: Jay Stephens, District of Columbia; Vice President: Don Stern, Massachusetts; Secretary: Matt Orwig, ED Texas; Treasurer: Greg Vega, SD California; Immediate Past President: Bill Lutz, New Mexico.
The new directors elected for the term ending 2014 were: Paul Coggins, ND Texas; Karen Hewitt, SD California; Doug Jones, ND Alabama; Tom Maroney, ND New York; and Ron Woods, SD Texas.
On Saturday, October 1, at the concluding banquet in Santa Fe, Ron Woods stepped down as NAFUSA’s executive director. Ron completed four years as NAFUSA’s chief operating officer and received a standing ovation from the banquet audience as President Bill Lutz lauded Ron’s service and presented him with an iPad2 as a token of NAFUSA’s appreciation. During his term, the active membership grew from 86 to nearly 300, taking NAFUSA to a new level of professionalism and stature.
Ron was appointed United States Attorney for the Southern District of Texas by President George H.W. Bush in 1990. One of the most well known and well regarded lawyers in Texas, Ron also served four years as a Special Agent for the FBI. He is a graduate of the University of Texas School of Law. He resides in Houston with his wife, Patty.
Rich Rossman succeeds Ron as NAFUSA’s executive director. Rich has been a member of NAFUSA for 30 years. He served as president in 2009-2010. He was the United States Attorney for the Eastern District of Michigan in 1980-1981, and also served as the chief of staff in the Criminal Division at Main Justice, 1998-1999. Rich retired from the active practice of law in 2007; he had been a partner at Pepper Hamilton for 23 years. Rich is a graduate of the University of Michigan Law School and lives in Michigan with his wife, Patty.
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