NAFUSA will present the 2025 Bradford Award to this year’s winners at the annual
conference in Washington, DC on October 10. The award, named in honor of former U.S.
Attorney J. Michael Bradford, recognizes an Assistant U.S. Attorney for outstanding
performance in handling an investigation and prosecution, or series of prosecutions, that
have had a significant impact and merit special recognition. NAFUSA annually solicits
nominations from current U.S. Attorneys of AUSAs in their offices whose work merits this
recognition.

This year, a committee from NAFUSA’s Board of Directors selected two AUSAs from the
many impressive nominations submitted. The winners, Margaret (“Maggie”) Lynaugh and
Brandon Thompson, are from the U.S. Attorneys Office for the Southern District of New
York (SDNY). Maggie and Brandon were nominated for the award in large measure for their
joint prosecution of five individuals who used a Bronx daycare as a front for their fentanyl
trafficking business, resulting in the poisoning of four children under two years old and,
tragically, one infant’s death. These outstanding AUSAs have also brought significant
prosecutions against fake online pharmacy schemes with victims in all 50 states and a
groundbreaking case with the Food and Drug Administration, including a first-of-its-kind
prosecution of a defendant selling counterfeit Ozempic medication through social media
platforms.

Maggie Lynaugh has been an AUSA in the SDNY since 2021. During that time, she has
served in the office’s general crimes, narcotics, illicit finance and money laundering and
securities units. Prior to joining the Department of Justice, she clerked for U.S. District
Court Judge Barbara S. Jones in the SDNY. She also worked in private practice for over ten years, primarily focusing on white collar criminal defense and civil litigation. Maggie is a
graduate of Stanford University and Harvard Law School

Brandon Thompson joined the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the SDNY in 2022 and has served in the office’s general crimes, narcotics, complex frauds and cybercrime units. Prior to joining the DOJ, he clerked for First Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals Judge Jeffrey R. Howard and also for U.S. District Court Judge Gregory H. Woods III in the SDNY. Brandon also worked in private practice for two years focusing primarily on white collar criminal defense and civil litigation. Brandon is a graduate of Columbia University and Yale Law School

Congratulations and honorable mention to the following outstanding nominees:

Chauncey Bratt

Middle District of Florida

Andrew Grogan

Northern District of Florida

Kaitlin Teresa Farrell

Eastern District of New York

Robert W. Schumacher

Eastern District of New York

Danielle Bateman

Eastern District of Pennsylvania

Elizabeth C. Warren

District of South Carolina

Thomas J. Hanlon

Eastern District of Washington

In addition to having the beautiful and historic Willard Hotel in Washington DC as our
conference venue for 2025, the program promises to be both interesting and relevant for
conference attendees. Once again, we are honored to have incredibly impressive and
experienced speakers as our conference guests.

As a few examples, included in this year’s conference will be a panel of experts led by
NAFUSA board member Scott Schools, Chief Compliance Officer at OpenAI. The panel,
entitled “Every Conference Has to Have an AI Session -This is it!” will discuss AI policy,
copyright issues and AI in the legal profession. The panel will Include Ben Rossen,
Associate General Counsel and Head of Policy Legal at OpenAI; Danny Tobey, Chair of DLA Piper’s AI and Data Analytics Practice, a successful software founder, and medical doctor; and Sy Damie, Partner and Vice Chair of Artificial Intelligence Practice, Latham & Watkins.

This year’s Supreme Court Review will be a panel including Jessica Amunson and Adam
Unikowsky, both Harvard Law graduates and partners at Jenner and Block, LLP in its
Appellate & Supreme Court Practice, which Ms. Amunson co-chairs. She was featured in a Harvard Law Today article in 2023 titled, “What’s it like to argue in front of the Supreme
Court?”Mr. Unikowsky was a judicial law clerk to Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia.

Conner Eldridge, NAFUSA board member, founding partner of Eldridge Brooks, and
Chairman & CEO, Riverside Bank, Little Rock, Arkansas, will moderate a timely (and most
likely very lively) panel discussion on the legal and practical impact of changes to the rules
governing college sports rules, “Show Me the Money: The Current and Ever-changing
Landscape of Collegiate Athletics, the NIL and Thoughts on Justice in College Sports.”

Keep watching the NAFUSA newsletter and website for more information. Hope to see you at The Willard in October!

New Jersey Assistant U.S. Attorney John Romano captivated NAFUSA’s 2024 Annual Conference attendees as he related the long and twisted history of the prosecution of foster parents Carolyn and Keith Jackson, who brutally tortured and starved young children in their care. The original trial judge sentenced the couple three times, twice after remand from the Third Circuit, significantly lower than the verdict and sentencing guidelines called for. The case went up to the Third Circuit Court of Appeals three times. The sentence was finally vacated and the case remanded for resentencing before a different judge. The link to the Third Circuit’s opinion on the appeal of the new sentence is below. Spoiler alert: John’s perseverance once again prevailed. Congratulations, John, and thank you!

Jackson Case Update

The 2025 annual conference in Washington D.C. October 8-10 will open early for NAFUSA golfers. Conference attendees will be able to play a round of golf with fellow members and guests at the historic Army Navy Country Club on Army Navy Drive in Arlington, Virginia. Registration for the reserved tee times on Wednesday morning, October 8, and for transport to the golf course from the conference hotel, will open concurrently with conference registration this summer.

The Army Navy Country Club was established in 1925. It sits in part on the site of Fort Richardson, a Union fort which commanded the highest ground of the forts on the Virginia side of D.C. defending the nation’s capital during the Civil War. It is a private, member-owned country club whose membership ranges from civilians to Active Duty and Retired Commissioned Officers and is ranked in the top 4% of private clubs in the U.S. The club has been featured in Virginia Golfer magazine. The course is considered challenging with a variety of holes and is certainly beautiful. We are pleased to offer an opportunity to play on this legendary golf course to NAFUSA conference attendees.

NAFUSA President Donna Bucella announced in Oklahoma City in September at the 2024 Annual Conference that NAFUSA’s Conference in 2025 will be held in Washington, D.C. at the historic Willard Hotel. Mark your calendars for October 8 -10, 2025! The unofficial start to the conference will be Wednesday morning, October 8 with golf for interested members at the Army Navy Country Club. Registration for golf AND the conference will not open until this summer, but we have already had sponsors coming forward to be a part of what is sure to be a great event. Keep reading your monthly newsletter for conference and sponsorship updates.

You may have heard the question, “Why hold the 2024 annual conference in
Oklahoma City?” You may have even asked the question yourself. The 195
NAFUSA members and guests who signed up for this year’s conference now
know the answer – OKC is fabulous with a modern upbeat welcoming vibe and
a walkable downtown and beautiful green spaces. The conference venue -the
National Hotel – wowed even the most experienced travelers with its stunning
art deco décor, amazing bars and restaurants, helpful staff and large
comfortable rooms. It was a great conference experience. Thanks, John
Richter, for bringing the conference to OKC!

The Wednesday night Opening Reception, sponsored again this year in fine
style by long-time NAFUSA supporter Guidepost Solutions, was held in the
National Hotel’s Library of Distilled Spirits. The “Library” was built into the
space which formerly housed the massive vault of the building’s original
tenant, the First National Bank. The imaginative and brilliantly lit space was
the perfect backdrop for reuniting with DOJ colleagues and old friends.

After opening remarks by NAFUSA president John Richter and Executive
Director Wendy Goggin, the CLE programming began on Thursday morning
with a presentation on the Intersection of Law, Ethics, and Public Relations in
High Profile Litigation and Investigations. The panel, moderated by Robert
Conrad, former U.S. Attorney WDNC and now Director of the Administrative
Office of the U.S. Courts, was a timely discussion of handling press/public
disclosures from the perspective of public relations experts and lawyers and
the benefits of working together on high profile matters.

The second panel of the day featured current and former DOJ officials
discussing emerging issues in cross-border enforcement and the challenges
facing DOJ, corporations and defense counsel. DOJ’s Director of the Office of
International Affairs and the Chief of the Criminal Division’s Money
Laundering and Asset Forfeiture Recovery Section joined Mark Mendelsohn,
former Deputy Chief of the Fraud Section for this presentation.

Conference attendees enthusiastically responded to the Conversation with
Former Ambassador to Russia, John Sullivan. His remarks were timely, candid
and displayed a wealth of understanding of historical events and how those
events shape the current landscape in Russia, Ukraine and the Middle East
and impact Americans. As one NAFUSA member opined, we learned so much
from him and could have happily listened to him speak all afternoon.

On Thursday afternoon, conference attendees were treated to tours of the
Oklahoma City National Memorial and Museum which was a short walk from
the conference hotel. The Museum is a powerful reminder of the tragedy of the
bombing of the Murrah Federal Building on April 19, 1995, in which 168 people
were killed. The tour featured the Survivor’s Wall, a tribute to the more than
600 people who survived the blast. Many NAFUSA members have personal
recollections of the horrors of that day or were involved with the investigations
and trials which followed. For those, and all the attendees who visited the
Museum, it was a sobering experience.

The program continued Friday morning after Thursday evening’s class dinners
at various OKC restaurants and night spots. Gary Restaino, USA Arizona and
vice-chair of the AGAC joined then Acting EOUSA Director Norm Wong for an
update on DOJ issues along with insight on USA staffing challenges. This was
followed by the annual Supreme Court Review, presented by Ethan Davis of
King & Spalding.

The last panel presentation was moderated by NAFUSA vice president
Catherine Hanaway and featured speakers with impressive backgrounds and
extraordinary breadth of knowledge on the topic of generative AI and its
ethical and practical uses in legal practice. After the presentation, the panel
fielded questions which demonstrated the importance of these issues to our
membership.

The final presentation of the morning before the general meeting and election
of officers and new board members, was the presentation of the J. Michael
Bradford Award. The remarks given by award members in the past have been
conference highlights and this year was no different. John Romano, AUSA DNJ
received the award from NAFUSA Secretary Tim Purdon, and then captured
the respect and admiration of conference attendees with his extraordinary case review of United States v Jackson, “Finding Justice After a Decade of
Prosecutions…”

The conference ended Friday night with a delicious dinner at Vast Restaurant,
the best view in Oklahoma and entertaining remarks by new board member
Scott Schools.

NAFUSA is pleased to announce the 2024 winner of the J. Michael Bradford
Memorial Award – Assistant United States Attorney (AUSA) John F. Romano
from the District of New Jersey. John was selected from an outstanding group of nominees from U.S. Attorney offices across the country because of his outstanding advocacy in United States v. Jackson, a case involving two
defendants’ horrifying treatment of three foster children between the ages of
2-months and 4-years old while living at the Picatinny Arsenal and elsewhere.
The jury heard overwhelming evidence of gut-wrenching abuse and neglect
against the three children, causing them life threatening injuries. Despite the
defendants’ grievous conduct, the originally assigned district judge imposed
sentences so lenient that the Solicitor General authorized three affirmative
appeals and two requests for reassignment. AUSA Romano prevailed in all
three appeals, which included two oral arguments, while securing
reassignment to another district judge in the third appeal. He handled three
resentencing hearings before the District Court, two before the originally
assigned district judge and then before the reassigned district judge. Finally,
he successfully moved for summary action to foreclose the defendants from
challenging their convictions on appeal. That motion was granted in January
2024.

After reviewing the nomination submitted by U.S. Attorney Phillip Sellinger, the NAFUSA Board of Directors found that AUSA Romano’s continuous and
dogged efforts to seek justice for these vulnerable victims exemplifies his
devotion to the mission of the Department of Justice and has voted to award
him the Bradford Award for 2024. The Award will be presented by NAFUSA
Secretary Tim Purdon at the NAFUSA Conference in Oklahoma City on
September 27, 2024, and AUSA Romano will deliver remarks about the
Jackson prosecution which included two long trials, as well as exhausting
pretrial and post-trial proceedings. According to USA Sellinger, for more than
nine years John Romano played a pivotal role in the effort to secure justice for
the victims in this case.

Each of this year’s candidates for the Bradford Award exemplified the high
standards and commitment to justice that the Bradford Award honors. The
decision wasn’t easy. The following AUSAs were nominated by their offices for the award based on their outstanding service to the Department of Justice
and each has received an award from NAFUSA, thanks to the generosity of
former NAFUSA president Ed Dowd:

Audrey B. Hemesath
Eastern District of California

Melanie K. Pierson
Southern District of California

Brian Dunn
District of Colorado

Jocelyn Courtney Kaoutzanis
District of Connecticut

Gregory Rosen
District of Columbia

Rachelle DesVaux Bedke
Middle District of Florida

Ron Timmons
Northern District of Iowa

Christopher M. O’Connor
Western District of Michigan

Michael J. Goldberger
Eastern District of New York

Catherine Mirabile
Eastern District of New York

Lara Pomerantz
Southern District of New York

Robert Yalen
Southern District of New York

Kathryn Risinger
Middle District of Tennessee

Ahmed Safeeullah
Middle District of Tennessee

Ben Schrader
Middle District of Tennessee

Adrian Garcia
Eastern District of Texas

Carmen Castillo Mitchell
Southern District of Texas

Timothy J. Ohms
Eastern District of Washington

Artificial intelligence is everywhere, whether we like it or not, and apparently
it’s here to stay. NAFUSA is very excited to host a panel of experts at our
annual conference in Oklahoma City on how AI impacts legal practice. They
will delve into the ethical and practical uses of generative AI in legal practice
beginning with the question “How are Lawyers using AI today and what will the
near future bring?” Catherine Hanaway, Partner and former Chair of Husch
Blackwell and NAFUSA Vice President, will moderate the panel discussion
which includes the question of whether lawyers actually have an ethical
obligation to use AI and what that obligation looks like.

Panel members include Julie Myers Wood, CEO of Guidepost Solutions
International, a leading investigations, compliance, monitoring and security
firm, and long-time NAFUSA friend and sponsor. She has a particular interest
and expertise in how technology and artificial intelligence is transforming
compliance.

Also on the panel is NAFUSA Board member Jay Town, Vice President and
General Counsel of Gray Analytics, a cybersecurity risk management firm
focusing on challenging technical problems with offices in Huntsville,
Alabama and Los Angeles. Joining them is Justin Helms, the Artificial
Intelligence Solutions Strategist at Husch Blackwell. A licensed attorney, he
helps drive AI technology development and application to transform legal
practice and business operations.

The last panel member is Valerie McConnell, the Senior Director of
CoCounsel Customer Success at Thompson Reuters where she uses her
litigation and computer science background to advise lawyers on how to
leverage artificial intelligence in their practices. She is a frequent speaker on
the application of generative AI to solve problems in legal workflow and we are
thrilled to welcome her and the other panel members.

In addition to the discussion of ethical issues surrounding the use of – or
failure to use – AI, this highly experienced and talented panel will suggest
specific practical uses of AI in legal practice from conducting legal research to responding to discovery requests. We look forward to their presentation on
Friday morning, September 27 in OKC!

The 2024 NAFUSA Conference’s CLE program will open on Thursday morning,
September 26, with a panel of outstanding speakers delving into the high
stakes issues that lawyers and public relations professionals should consider
in high profile litigation and investigations. The topic could not be timelier.
News outlets and social media for the past year – and more – have inundated
the public with accounts of legal entanglements involving public officials,
movie and reality TV stars, and events, often tragic, of wide public interest.
The panel, composed of experienced legal and public relations professionals
highly skilled in dealing with the legal and ethical issues that arise in these
types of cases, will provide a detailed look at these issues and discuss
practical considerations and solutions.

The panel discussion is entitled The Intersection of Law, Ethics, and Public
Relations in High Profile Litigation and Investigations. The speakers are truly
outstanding practitioners in law and public relations fields who have dealt
with the complex legal and ethical issues that arise when public scrutiny is
focused on investigations and litigation. NAFUSA is pleased to have on this
panel two highly regarded public relations experts: Mark Corallo, a political
communications and public relations professional who is the co-founder,
along with Barbara Comstock, of Corallo Comstock, a public relations firm;
and Ellen Moskowitz, senior partner of the Brunswick Group and co-leader of
Brunswick’s global litigation communications and crisis practice.

Additionally, we are honored to have two highly skilled and experienced
attorneys on the panel, both of whom are NAFUSA members: Debra Wong
Yang, a partner in Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher’s Los Angeles office and chair of
their Crisis Management Practice Group; and Ronald Machan, partner in
WilmerHale, a member of the firm’s Global Management Committee and
Chair of the firm’s Litigation and Controversy Department. Moderating this
panel of experts is Robert Conrad, former United States Attorney for the
Western District of North Carolina, former District and Senior Judge for the
Western District of North Carolina, and most recently appointed the Director
of the Administrative Office of the United States Courts.

We are pleased and excited to have this august group lead off the program in
Oklahoma City.