Author Archives: Rich

Monaco Confirmed as DAG; Gupta as Associate AG

On Tuesday, April 20, 2021, the United States Senate overwhelmingly (98-2) confirmed Lisa Monaco to serve as Deputy Attorney General. She served in the Department of Justice for fifteen years, spending the majority of her time as a career federal prosecutor and eventually being appointed Associate Deputy Attorney General; Principal Associate Deputy Attorney General; and the first woman confirmed as Assistant Attorney General for National Security. She has also served as Counsel and Chief of Staff to then-FBI Director Robert Mueller and White House Homeland Security and Counterterrorism Advisor. She earned her Juris Doctor at the the University of Chicago Law School.

On Wednesday, April 21, Vanita Gupta was confirmed by the Senate as Associate Attorney General in a close 51 to 49 vote, when Senator Lisa Murkowski of Alaska broke ranks to be the only Republican to vote yes. Gupta has served as the Acting Assistant Attorney General for Civil Rights in the Obama Administration. She has been the president and chief executive officer of The Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights Civil Rights Coalition. She earned her Juris Doctor at New York University.

Tom Delahanty, 75, Dies

Tom Delahanty

NAFUSA member Thomas E. Delahanty II, a legal titan in Maine whose career as a prosecutor and judge spanned more than four decades, died Monday after battling pancreatic cancer. He was 75.

As reported by The Portland Press Herald:

Delahanty, a prominent member of a well-known Maine legal family, served as the U.S. attorney for the District of Maine from 2010 to 2017. A lifelong Democrat, he was appointed by President Barack Obama. It was Delahanty’s second stint. He also had been appointed to the post 30 years earlier by President Jimmy Carter.

 

Gov. Janet Mills mourned Delahanty’s passing and cited his work on behalf of Mainers to stem the opioid epidemic.

 

“I respected and admired his intellect, his judgment, and his commitment to protecting and delivering justice under the law for the people of Maine,” Mills said in a statement. “I will miss him but know that Maine is better off as a result of his service. My thoughts and deepest sympathies go out to his wife, Ruth, and his two sons.”

 

Delahanty grew up in Lewiston, earned his undergraduate degree in Vermont and earned his law degree at the University of Maine School of Law in 1970. Following a short stint as a defense attorney, he was elected district attorney in 1974 for the newly created Prosecutorial District Three, covering Androscoggin, Oxford and Franklin counties.

 

His first stint as U.S. attorney for the District of Maine was between 1980 and 1981, when Carter appointed Delahanty to replace George Mitchell, whom Carter had appointed to the federal bench.

 

When Carter lost re-election to Ronald Reagan, Delahanty resigned and returned briefly to defense work for two years until 1983, when he was appointed a justice of the Maine Superior Court, where he served, including as chief justice from 1990 to 1995, until Obama named him U.S. attorney for the District of Maine in 2010.

 

“Tom Delahanty was a giant in the Maine legal community,” Donald E. Clark, the acting U.S. attorney for the District of Maine, said in a statement Wednesday. “In addition to his professional accomplishments, he was also an honorable, just man and a devoted husband, father and grandfather. We at the U.S. Attorney’s Office mourn his passing and send our condolences to his family.”

As is our custom, NAFUSA will arrange for an American flag to be flown over the United States Department of Justice and presented to Tom’s family as a token of the regard with which he was held by his colleagues.

 

Warner Hodges, 99, Dies

Warner Hodges, prominent Memphis attorney, died April 10, 2021, at his home in Germantown, Tennessee at the age of 99. He grew up in Memphis, graduating from Southwestern (now Rhodes College) with a major in Chemistry. While at Southwestern, he was President of the Pi Kappa Alpha fraternity.

In 1943, he enlisted in the United States Army and, because of his degree in Chemistry, was sent to the highly secret Army facility at Los Alamos, New Mexico, to work on the Manhattan Project in the development of the Atomic Bomb. For his essential work in contributing to the successful conclusion of World War II, he was awarded a Certificate of Merit from the then U.S. Secretary of War, Henry Stinson.

After the war, he attended Vanderbilt University School of Law on the GI bill, graduating in 1949. After a few years in private practice, he was appointed as an assistant U.S. Attorney for the Western District of Tennessee, and was later appointed as the U.S. District Attorney by President Eisenhower, where he served with distinction, prosecuting crime in Tennessee. His brilliance was exemplified in the courtroom, and in 1961, he left government service and returned to private practice where he utilized his criminal skills to become one of the foremost criminal defense attorneys in Memphis, earning acquittals for several prominent public officials.

He was married to the late Barbara Rees Hodges, and is survived by their three sons; namely, Rusty Hodges, Lincoln Hodges, and Geoffrey Hodges. Rusty and Lincoln followed him into the practice of law, as did Lincoln’s son, Rees Hodges. He is also survived by five grandchildren, and six great-grandchildren.

As is our custom, NAFUSA will arrange for an American flag to be one flown over the United States Department of Justice and presented to Warner’s family as a token of the regard with which he was held by his colleagues.

Polite Nominated To Serve as AAG For DOJ Criminal Division

On April 12, 2021, President Biden nominated Kenneth Polite to serve as the assistant attorney general for the Justice Department’s criminal division. Polite served as the United States Attorney for the Eastern District of Louisiana from 2013 to 2017. He joined Morgan Lewis’ global disputes and investigations team as a partner in Philadelphia in July 2018.

McQuade and Vance Join New Podcast “#SistersInLaw”

NAFUSA members Barb McQuade (ED Michigan 2010-2017) and Joyce Vance (ND Alabama 2009-2017) have teamed with Boston Global Opinion columnist Kimberly Atkins and Jill Wine-Banks, the only woman on the Watergate prosecution team, to launch the podcast #SistersInLaw.

Produced by  Politicon, the four MSNBC analysts make up the team that hosts a weekly roundtable, breaking down legal, political and cultural issues of the day.

Dubbed the “sisters in law” by MSNBC viewers, the four get together every Friday for a weekly discussion that educates listeners on the legal issues of the week in a fun and accessible manner. The podcast launched at the #1 spot on the politics charts and at #13th overall. With over 1700 five star reviews after the first few episodes, listeners are praising #SistersInLaw as an “insightful and welcoming” “legal podcast dream team.”

 

Over the past four years, the public has gotten to know Barb, Jill, Joyce and Kim from their frequent appearances on MSNBC and their writing. #SistersInLaw, the podcast, is the result of the demand for a more indepth version of the easy to understand civics lessons they became known for during the unprecedented administration of Donald Trump. Together, the four women have been practicing or studying law for over 15 decades, and have broad expertise in some of the most important areas on the legal and political landscape including criminal justice and policing reform, foreign and domestic terrorism, voting rights and election law, health care fraud, international drug and humantrafficking, violent crime and fighting systemic discrimination.

Joyce White Vance: The first woman U.S. Attorney appointed by President Obama, Vance established the first civil-rights unit in a U.S. Attorney’s Office in Alabama and launched a statewide investigation into inhumane conditions in Alabama’s prisons. She is currently a professor at the University of Alabama School of law, as well as a knitter and backyard chicken farmer.

Barb McQuade: Appointed by President Obama as the first female U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Michigan, she also served as the Assistant U.S. Attorney in Detroit for 12 years, focusing on national security cases. She is currently a professor at the University of Michigan Law School. Barb is an avid sports fan whose dream job is playing shortstop for the Detroit Tigers.

NAFUSA Webinar April 20: Doug Jones

NAFUSA’s second webinar will take place on Tuesday, April 20 at noon CST. It will be sponsored by Locke Lord LLP and feature Former United States Senator Doug Jones.

The title of Doug’s talk is “Justice Delayed, Not Justice Denied: The prosecutions of the 16th Street Baptist Church bombing cases.” Doug served as the United States Attorney for the District of Alabama (1997-2001) and as the United States Senator for the State of Alabama from 2018 to 2021.
He is a long time member of NAFUSA and would have been installed as president of NAFUSA in 2018 if he hadn’t stepped down to run for the Senate. He was the NAFUSA keynote speaker in Nashville in 2018.
NAFUSA members and friends will receive an invitation in early April. One hour CLE credit will be offered to attendees. If you have any questions, contact Deputy Director Lisa Rafferty at lisarafferty27@gmail.com.

Ted Olson’s New Podcast

NAFUSA member Ted Olson, solicitor general of the United States 2001-2004, and assistant attorney general in charge of the Office of Legal Counsel, 1981-1984) has teamed up with his partner at Gibson Dunn, Ted Boutrous, in a new podcast (“The Two Teds”). Boutros is the global co-chair of Gibson Dunn’s litigation department.

Olson and Boutrous discuss some of the high-profile, high-stakes cases they have argued before the U.S. Supreme Court and elsewhere.You can listen to stories from inside the appellate litigation war room as the arguments were developed, and find out what it takes to win at the nation’s highest courts.

 

AG Garland Appoints Monty Wilkinson as Director of EOUSA

Monty Wilkinson

Attorney General Merrick B. Garland announced on March 22, 2021, that former acting Attorney General Monty Wilkinson has been appointed as the Director of the Executive Office for U.S. Attorneys (EOUSA). Wilkinson previously served as the Director of EOUSA from 2014 until December 2017, and prior to that as its Principal Deputy Director and Chief of Staff.

During his career with the Department of Justice, Wilkinson has served as Counselor and Deputy Chief of Staff to the Attorney General, as an Associate Deputy Attorney General, and as the Deputy Assistant Attorney General for Human Resources and Administration. He also held senior management positions for nearly a decade in the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia. Mr. Wilkinson started his career at the Department of Justice as a trial attorney in the Criminal Division.

Norman Wong, who has been serving as the Acting Director of EOUSA since January 20, 2021, will return to his position as Principal Deputy Director. “Norm Wong has served at EOUSA with distinction for a number of years and provided exemplary leadership to the U.S. Attorney’s Offices as Acting Director over the past seven weeks,” said Attorney General Garland. “Norm’s commitment to public service is exceptional and I thank him for his service.”

“I look forward to working with Monty again as I did 25 years ago when I was the Principal Associate Deputy Attorney General,” said Attorney General Garland. “Monty ensured that the Department continued to work and to honor its proud traditions during the leadership transition between new administrations. The Department is fortunate to have Monty back at EOUSA and I am confident he will help continue to build upon our many successes in enforcing our country’s laws, bringing criminals to justice and ensuring equal justice under the law.”

In the photo below, Monty shares an elbow bump with AG Garland on the Judge’s first day as Attorney General at Main Justice.

Jim Rolfe Dies, 80

Former United States Attorney (ND Texas) James Allen Rolfe died on February 26, 2021, after a valiant twenty-year battle with melanoma cancer and lung cancer. Following three years of service in the United States Army, Jim attended and graduated from Austin College in 1965 where he was a member of the basketball team and president of his fraternity. Throughout his lifetime, Jim continued to be an avid supporter of the college and served as president of the Alumni Association and president of the A (Athletic) association. In 2000, Jim received the Distinguished Alumni Award from Austin College, and he was admitted into the A Association’s Hall of Fame in 2005. In February 2020, Austin College honored Jim by naming their new basketball court the “Jim Rolfe Court”.

Jim attended law school at the University of Texas at Austin and received his JD degree  in 1968. He was a member of the Dean’s Round Table at the University of Texas Law School, a member of the Dallas Bar Association, the Dallas County Criminal Bar Association, the State Bar of Texas, and he was admitted to practice before the United States Supreme Court. He served as an Assistant City Attorney for the city of Dallas, an Assistant District Attorney for Dallas County, and an Assistant United States Attorney for the Northern District of Texas. He rose in the United States Attorney’s office to the position of chief of the criminal division before leaving the office for private practice. In 1981, he was appointed United States Attorney for the Northern District by President Ronald Reagan.

He was a member of NAFUSA and has served on the board of directors. Jim was a 32nd degree Mason, a member of the Metropolitan Lodge of Dallas and the Hella Shrine of Dallas. In addition, he was an advocate for the Scottish Rite Hospital. Jim was a member of the National Football Association, and he served on the board of the Association’s Gridiron Club of Dallas and was an advisor to the board of directors of Matador Resources Company. He was a member of Park Cities Presbyterian Church and hosted a weekly Bible study in his home for sixteen years.

Jim was a devoted husband, father, and grandfather. He is survived by his wife, Susan Stowers Rolfe, his daughter Rebecca Rolfe Youngman and her husband Patrick, his son, James Gregory Rolfe and his wife Elizabeth, and by his granddaughters Isabella and Emilia Rolfe.

As is our custom, NAFUSA arranged for an American flag to be flown over the United States Department of Justice and it was presented to Jim’s wife Susan at the memorial service on March 10, as a token of the regard with which he was held by his colleagues. NAFUSA President Paul Coggins and Executive Director Emeritus Ron Woods are shown in the photo below presenting the flag to Susan. The photo to the right shows Jim’s flag being flown over Main Justice last week.