Author Archives: Lisa

Atlanta Conference Big Success

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Rick Deane and his Atlanta based committee of Kent Alexander, Bob Barr and Joe Whitley succeeded in hosting one of the best NAFUSA conferences ever held. The opening day set the tone when over 40 golfers enjoyed the prestigious East Lake Golf Club, home two weeks earlier to the PGA tour. The rest of the conference attendees joined the golfers in the evening for the opening cocktail reception, hosted by Greenberg Traurig. The crowd was welcomed to Atlanta by Former Mayor Shirley Franklin.

On Friday morning, the CLE program began with welcomes from the Georgia Attorney General Olens and current Georgia U.S. Attorneys, Edward J. Tarver and Michael J. Moore. Deputy Solicitor General Michael R. Dreeben gave a presentation on the Supreme Court Term, 2011-2012, describing many of the significant cases of the term which he had personally argued. The Friday program closed with a panel sponsored by Ernst & Young on Corporate Compliance- Investigations, Diligence and Analytics and moderated by Jay Stephens. The panelists were Assistant AG Lanny Breuer; NAFUSA members Dan Webb, Kevin O’Connor and Sharon Zealey; and Brian Loughman and David Remick from Ernst & Young.

The Friday luncheon was held at The Carter Center. Although Former President Jimmy Carter was unable to join us, he did send a personal letter in which he said:

I regret my schedule did not permit me to be in Atlanta this week to be with you in person and visit with some of my former associates. I commend you all for your service to our nation and hope that your meetings are productive.

AGAC chair Paul Fishman spoke at the Carter luncheon with his News from the Field and the AGAC.

On Friday evening, several class reunions were held: the Reagan-Bush I alumni, the Bush II group, the Clinton alumni and the Carter alums.

Saturday’s CLE began with Marshall Jarrett, Director of EOUSA, describing the State of the Department. The J. Michael Bradford Award was presented to Reid Schar, ND of Illinois, who gave a stimulating presentation on his handling of the Blagojevich case. Rory K. Little, Professor of Law at U.C. Hastings College of Law gave the Ethics Presentation. The program concluded with a panel discussion on Immigration Issues, moderated by Charlie Savage of The New York Times. The panel consisted of Alejandro N. Mayorkas, DHS, Nina Perales, MALDEF, Alabama AG Luther Strange, Chief John King, City of Doraville and former ICE director Julie Myers Wood.

The conference concluded with the Saturday banquet and business meeting. The election of Jay Stephens and the other officers and directors is described elsewhere as is the unforgettable keynote address by Mike Cody. Rick Deane was honored for his outstanding year as president of NAFUSA and his organization of the conference. Rick was surprised by a celebration of his birthday, including a cake and 60 purple balloons.

The conferences would not be possible without the support of the sponsors. This year sponors contributed $78,000 to the success of the Atlanta meeting. A full list of the sponors can be found on the right side of the home page of the NAFUSA website. By clicking on the sponsor logo you can visit their website.

Next year Washington, DC.

 

Pat Fitzgerald Joins Skadden’s Chicago Office

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One of NAFUSA’s newest members, Pat Fitzgerald, who resigned as the U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Illinois earlier in the year, has joined Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom LLP. Skadden issued the following press release:

CHICAGO – October 22, 2012 – Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom LLP announced today that Patrick J. Fitzgerald, former U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Illinois, is joining the firm, effective October 29. He will be practicing out of Skadden’s Chicago office. Among other things, Mr. Fitzgerald will focus on internal corporate investigations as well as civil litigation and arbitration.

 

In 2001, Mr. Fitzgerald was appointed by President George W. Bush as U.S. Attorney in the Northern District of Illinois. In this capacity, he led numerous high-profile investigations and prosecutions, including the convictions on corruption charges of two successive governors of Illinois — George Ryan and Rod Blagojevich — and the fraud conviction of media figure Conrad Black. As a special counsel, Mr. Fitzgerald was selected to lead the investigation of leaks in the Valerie Plame matter and tried the case of United States v. Lewis “Scooter” Libby. During his tenure, the U.S. Attorney’s office prosecuted significant fraud, civil rights, organized crime, narcotics and national security cases. Mr. Fitzgerald also was involved in a number of nationwide initiatives, including the President’s Corporate Fraud Task Force and the Attorney General’s Advisory Committee.

 

Prior to his 2001 appointment, Mr. Fitzgerald spent 13 years as an Assistant U.S. Attorney in the Southern District of New York. He served as lead counsel in the investigation, prosecution and seven-month trial of United States v. Usama bin Laden, et al., in which defendants were charged with and convicted of conspiracy to murder U.S. nationals overseas and the 1998 bombings of the U.S. embassies in Kenya and Tanzania. He also participated in the nine-month trial of United States v. Omar Abdel Rahman, the prosecution of a conspiracy to attack the United States that involved the 1993 World Trade Center bombing. In 1995, Mr. Fitzgerald co-founded the Organized Crime-Terrorism Unit, investigating terrorist groups and facilitating coordination between the law enforcement and the intelligence communities. He also handled numerous drug trafficking cases and organized crime cases, including the six-month trial of United States v. John Gambino.

 

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Mr. Fitzgerald began his legal career in 1985 as a litigation associate at a New York-based firm before moving to the U.S. Attorney’s office in New York. A graduate of Harvard Law School, Mr. Fitzgerald earned his undergraduate degree from Amherst College. He has received numerous awards and recognition during his more than 20 years in public service, including the Cox, Coleman, Richardson Award for Distinguished Public Service from Harvard Law School (2007), “Lawyer of the Year” from The National Law Journal (2005) and the Attorney General’s Award for Distinguished Service (2002) and for Exceptional Service (1996). Mr. Fitzgerald is a Fellow of the American College of Trial Lawyers.

Mike Cody’s Keynote Highlight of Atlanta Conference

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When health issues caused John Doar to withdraw as the keynote speaker for the Atlanta conference, long time NAFUSA member W.J. Michael (“Mike”) Cody agreed to stand in. Cody proceeded to give one of the most memorable speeches ever heard at the annual meetings. Cody was one of six lawyers representing Dr. Martin Luther King in Memphis when Dr. King was assassinated while in the city to support the striking sanitation workers. Cody’s intense description of the last two days of Dr. King’s life effected everyone in the room.

Cody has written a law review article which formed the basis for his speech: King at the Mountain Top: The Representation of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., Memphis, April 3-4 1968. Cody was present at the Mason Temple on April 3, 1968, the night before Dr. King was killed, when he made his famous “I’ve Been to the Mountaintop” speech.

A young Mike Cody appears in the photo below in the lower right center on the day of the demonstration on behalf of the sanitation workers.

Jay Stephens Elected President of NAFUSA

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At the close of the Atlanta conference, the NAFUSA membership elected Jay Stephens, to serve as its president for 2012-2013. Stephens is senior vice president, general counsel and secretary of Raytheon Company. Raytheon, with 2011 sales of $25 billion and 71,000 employees worldwide, is a leader in defense, homeland security and other government markets worldwide. Stephens leads the company’s legal and regulatory affairs, ethics and compliance programs, and corporate governance activities.

Prior to joining Raytheon, he served as associate attorney general of the United States. Before becoming associate attorney general, Stephens was corporate vice president and deputy general counsel for Honeywell International (formerly AlliedSignal). From 1993 to 1997, Stephens was a partner in the Washington, D.C., office of the law firm of Pillsbury, Madison and Sutro, where his practice focused on complex litigation, regulatory matters and corporate governance issues. He also served as co-managing partner of the firm’s Washington office.

Stephens served as the United States Attorney for the District of Columbia, 1988-1993. From 1986 to 1988, Stephens served in the White House as deputy counsel to President Reagan, where he was responsible for a wide range of legal policy and regulatory issues and for providing counsel and advice to the President and senior White House staff.

From 1973 to 1985, Stephens served in a variety of positions with the U.S. Department of Justice and in the private sector, including principal associate deputy attorney general, assistant U.S. attorney and assistant special Watergate prosecutor. He also worked as an assistant general counsel with the Overseas Private Investment Corporation and as an associate with the Washington law firm of Wilmer Cutler & Pickering.

Stephens graduated from Harvard College magna cum laude and Phi Beta Kappa with a bachelor’s degree in government, attended Oxford University on a Knox Fellowship, and earned his Juris Doctor degree cum laude from the Harvard Law School. He currently serves on the board of directors of the New England Legal Foundation and the Atlantic Legal Foundation. Stephens also serves on the advisory boards of the American Enterprise Institute’s Legal Center for the Public Interest and the Georgetown Law School Corporate Counsel Institute, as well as on the General Counsel Committee of the National Center for State Courts, and as a trustee of the American Friends of New College, Oxford.

The following were also elected to serve for 2012-2013: President Elect Donald K. Stern, District of Massachusett; Vice President Matthew D. Orwig, ED of Texas; Secretary Gregory A. Vega, SD of California and Treasurer E. Bart Daniel, District of South Carolina.

Alice Howzwe Martin, ND of Alabama was elected to fill the vacancy on the board in the class of 2013 due to Bart Daniels moving to the chairs. The following were elected to the the board as the class of 2015: Kent B. Alexander, ND Georgia; William J. Leone, District of Colorado; Kenneth L. Wainstein, District of Columbia; Donald W. Washington, WD of Louisiana and Sharon J. Zealey, SD of Ohio.  Click here for photos of officers and directors.

Finally, it was announced that the 2013 conference will be held in Washington, DC on September 26-28 and the 2014 conference in Boston on October 9-11.

 

Andrea Ordin Elected President of LA Board of Police Commissioners

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NAFUSA member Andrea Sheridan Ordin retired from her position as Los Angeles County County Counsel after two years as  the head of the 250 in-house  counsel office providing civil representation for the Board of Supervisors and the departments of Los Angeles County.

On July 1st she was re-appointed to the Los Angeles Board of Police Commissioners, and elected as its president.   Under the Charter the Board is the head of the LAPD, and the five civilians donate 20-30 hours per week on commission business, set policy and are assisted in improving service to the public by a paid professional staff, including an Inspector General’s office, headed by a former assistant U.S. attorney, who serves as  the eyes and ears of the Commission.

In addition in January, 2013, Ordin will be joining the adjunct faculty of Loyola Law School, teaching an advanced legal ethics course, called the Government Lawyer. Ordin, a former NAFUSA board member, served as the United States Attorney for the Central District of California (1977-1981).

Seagal Wheatley Dies

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Seagal V. Wheatley passed away Tuesday, September 25, 2012 of pancreatic cancer, he was 77. Wheatley served as the United States Attorney for the Western District of Texas (1969-1971) and was a long time member of NAFUSA.

His 53 year legal career was spent specializing in complex business litigation and he was well recognized as one of the most effective trial attorneys in Texas.

Wheatley graduated from the University Of Texas School Of Law and began his first law practice with a law firm specializing in trial work. He was mentored by John H. Wood who later became a Federal District Judge, but whom Wheatley always gave credit to as his teacher.

In 1969, when at the age of 34, he was nominated by President Nixon and confirmed by the U.S. Senate to serve as the United States Attorney, he was one of the youngest U.S. Attorneys in the country. In 1970 Wheatley was selected the “Outstanding Young Man of San Antonio” by the Rotary Club.

In 1971, Wheatley became a partner in a newly formed firm with Jesse Oppenheimer, Stanley Rosenberg and Herb Kelleher where he led the litigation section for 25 years and represented many local and national corporations as well as the personal attorney for many prominent businessmen such as the former owner of the New Orleans Saints, the owner of the Houston Astros, owners of the Detroit Tigers, a former King Ranch heir and two former Mayors of San Antonio. Wheatley continued to practice until he was invited to join the law firm of Jackson Walker, LLP where he practiced complex business litigation until his death.

Wheatley is survived by his two daughters, Jill Wheatley of San Antonio and Julie Gosh of Austin. NAFUSA has arranged for an American flag to be flown over the U.S. Deaprtment of Justice in Wheatley’s honor and to be presented to his family as a lasting memorial from his former collegues.

Mike Cody to Replace John Doar as Keynoter

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Health issues have forced John Doar to withdraw from the NAFUSA Atlanta conference. Doar, 91, was hospitalized in New York in August with a blood clot in his lung. He is recovering and his health is improving, but he will be unable to travel to Atlanta in October.

Long time NAFUSA member W.J. Michael (“Mike”) Cody, shown right, has agreed to stand in for Doar as this year’s keynote speaker. John Doar served in the Justice Department during the critical years of the civil rights movement. Cody, as a young lawyer in Memphis during that era, was also a witness to some of the most significant events of the times. His keynote topic will be entitled King at the Mountain Top: The Representation of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., Memphis, April 3-4, 1968. Cody was one of six lawyers providing legal representation to Dr. King on that momentous day in Memphis when King was assassinated while in town to support the striking sanitation workers. Young Mike Cody is shown below on the right at the injunction hearing where the City of Memphis attempted to prevent the march in support of the sanitation workers.

 

Cody served as the United States Attorney for the Western District of Tennessee (1977-1981) and as the Attorney General of the State of Tennessee (1984-1988). He served on the Attorney General’s Advisory Committee (1979-1980).

Except for his years in public service and one year at another firm in Nashville, he has been a partner at Burch Porter & Johnson PLLC in Memphis since 1961. He has been a professor at Rhodes College and Lemoyne Owen College, Memphis State University School of Law and Vanderbilt University School of Law. Cody is a fellow in the American College of Trial Lawyers. He is co-chair, Society of Attorneys General Emeritus. He was a first lieutenant in the U.S. Army Reserve and earned his J.D. at the University of Virginia. Cody is a member of the Tennessee Sports Hall of Fame.

 

Latest Developments on Law of Indefinite Detention

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On September 12, 2012, Judge Katherine B. Forrest of the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York issued a permanent injunction barring the government from enforcing a statute authorizing the indefinite detention without trial of terrorism suspects. On September 17, 2012, Judge Raymond J. Lohier of the Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit granted an interim stay until a panel of judges hold a hearing scheduled for September 28.

NAFUSA held a two hour panel in New York in 2010 on the prosecution of terrorism suspects and Charlie Savage of The New York Times moderated the panel. Two years later this issue has not gone away and Savage writes in The Times,

The United States has been detaining terrorism suspects indefinitely since 2001, relying on an authorization by Congress to use military force against perpetrators of the Sept. 11 attacks and those who helped them. Last year, Congress decided to create a federal statute that codified authority for such detentions.

The new statute went beyond covering the perpetrators of the Sept. 11 attacks to also cover people who were part of or substantially supported Al Qaeda, the Taliban or associated forces engaged in hostilities against the United States or its allies. Its enactment was controversial in part because lawmakers did not specify what conduct could lead to someone’s being detained, and because it was silent about whether the statute extended to American citizens and others arrested on United States soil.

It was challenged by Chris Hedges, a journalist who interacts with terrorists as part of his reporting, and by several prominent supporters of WikiLeaks. They argued that its existence chilled their constitutional rights by creating a basis to fear that the government might seek to detain them under it by declaring that their activities made them supporters of an enemy group.

In May, Judge Forrest agreed, issuing a preliminary injunction barring the government from relying on the law to detain anyone without trial, and Wednesday she made that injunction permanent in a 112-page opinion.

Inspector General’s “Fast and Furious” Report Issued

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This afternoon the Justice Department released the 471-page report from Michael Horowitz, the DOJ Inspector General, finding  federal agents and prosecutors in Phoenix primarily responsible for the failed effort to infiltrate weapons into smuggling rings in the operation named “Fast and Furious”.

According to The Washington Post in an article entitled Justice IG Critical of ATF in Gun Operation,

The long-awaited report also directed sharp criticism at senior officials from the Justice Department and its Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives in Washington for lax oversight of the attempt to block the flow of weapons to Mexico’s violent drug cartels. Many of the weapons later turned up at crime scenes in Mexico and the United States, including one in which a Border Patrol agent was killed.

The inspector general’s report recommended that the Justice Department consider taking disciplinary action against 14 current officials from the department and ATF. Among them were former acting Deputy Attorney General Gary Grindler, Assistant Attorney General Lanny Breuer, former acting ATF Director Kenneth Melson, former ATF Special Agent in Charge William Newell and Deputy Assistant Attorney General Jason Weinstein.

Weinstein resigned today but called the IG’s conclusion that he knew about and failed to stop the practice of allowing guns to cross the border “completely false.” Weinstein is represented by NAFUSA member and former DOJ Inspector General Michael Bromwich.

The IG’s report failed to criticize Attorney General Eric holder Jr., finding that he had no advance knowledge of the tactics and risks involved in the operation.

The New York Times, in an article entitled Guns Inquiry Urges Action Against 14 in Justice Dept., and written by Charlie Savage, who will moderate a panel at the Atlanta NAFUSA conference, states,

In a scathing report, the inspector general, Michael Horowitz, laid primary blame on what he portrayed as a dysfunctional and poorly supervised group of Arizona-based federal prosecutors and agents of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives. As part of the operation, those officials did not act to seize illegal weapons in hopes of bringing a bigger case against a gun-smuggling network linked to a Mexican drug gang.

 

While it found no evidence that officials at the Justice Department in Washington had authorized or approved the tactics, it faulted several officials for related failures, including not recognizing red flags and failing to follow up on information about both Operation Fast and Furious and a similar, earlier investigation called Operation Wide Receiver, in which guns also reached drug gangs.