Click here to view hundreds of photos from the 2018 NAFUSA conference at the Westin Hotel in Nashville Tennessee.

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Nashville Conference Photos

NAFUSA’s 39th annual conference began on Wednesday, October 24, 2018, with a reception at the offices of NAFUSA sponsor Butler Snow. NAFUSA President Hal Hardin introduced Nashville Mayor David Briley who joined Tennessee Deputy Governor Jim Henry in welcoming NAFUSA to Nashville. Mayor Briley then read a proclamation declaring it “NAFUSA Week” in Nashville and announced that the courthouse and the Cumberland River Bridge would be lit up in NAFUSA’s honor in red, white and blue. The colors remained during the three days of the conference.

The Butler Snow reception was enjoyed by over 50% of the active members of NAFUSA in attendance. More than 200 attended the conference, including spouses, speakers, sponsors and guests. This year 32 sponsors were on board, with Nardello & Co providing a lavish breakfast on Thursday morning and EY sponsoring the lunch and tour of The Hermitage, home of President Andrew Jackson.

The CLE program was outstanding with a panel on international criminal investigations which featured the Honorable Robert Buckland, Solicitor General for England and Wales. Chuck Rosenberg, former head of DEA, led a panel on the opioid epidemic. The Bradford Award was presented to AUSA P.J. Meitl. Chief Judge Waverly Crenshaw, of the MD Tennessee, led a panel on ethics and Marcia Coyle of the National Law Journal moderated a lively panel on the United States Supreme Court.

At the closing banquet on Friday, the election of new officers and directors was held. The results were as follows:

• President: Terry Flynn
• President Elect Paul Coggins
• Vice President Karen Hewitt
• Secretary Chuck Stevens
• Treasurer Don Washington
• Immediate Past President Hal Hardin

The new board members for the class of 2021:

• Catherine Hanaway
• Barry Grissom
• Tim Purdon
• Stan Twardy
• Lee Bentley

Finally, “Mr. Nashville” Hal Hardin, who had led one of the finest NAFUSA conferences, passed the gavel to Terry Flynn and introduced the keynote speaker, one of our own, Senator Doug Jones. Doug gave a stirring speech on the need for civility and nonpartisanship in our national dialogue. Doug would have been NAFUSA’s President this year if he hadn’t stepped down to run for Alabama’s Senate seat. Additional photos of the conference will be posted soon.

Each year, NAFUSA recognizes an Assistant U.S. Attorney for outstanding performance through the J. Michael Bradford Memorial Award. The award is named after J. Michael Bradford, who served as a U.S. Attorney in the Eastern District of Texas from 1994 to 2001. Bradford, who died in 2003, had a distinguished career in public service, including successfully defending the government against lawsuits stemming from the 1993 siege of the Branch Davidian’s compound in Waco, Texas. NAFUSA annually solicits nominations from current U.S. Attorneys for the Bradford Award. Typically, the recipient has handled a significant investigation and prosecution or a series of prosecutions which has had a significant impact and merits special recognition.

Once again, a number of exceptional nominations were made by U.S. Attorneys around the country. The J. Michael Bradford Award Committee was chaired by NAFUSA Vice President Paul Coggins. Its members included Donna Bucella, Paul Charlton, Barry Grissom, and Karen Hewitt. This year, the Board voted to give the award to AUSA P.J. Meitl of the Northern District of Texas, nominated by U.S. Attorney Erin Nealy Cox, who wrote:

In 2017, AUSA Meitl completed the case of United States v. Jacques Roy, et al, 3:12-CR-0054-L, the largest criminal investigation and prosecution of a single physician for health care fraud in the history of the Department of Justice. Before his arrest, Dr. Roy falsely certified more than 12,000 individual beneficiaries for more than 500 home health agencies in the Dallas/Fort Worth Metroplex, submitting more than $373 million in fraudulent claims to Medicare and Medicaid for payment.  Dr. Roy caused the deaths of at least three patients, and harmed countless more through blatant medical malpractice.  He was not just an unrepentant con man, but a dangerous one.

Due in large part to AUSA Meitl’s efforts, Dr. Roy was sentenced in August 2017 to 35 years’ imprisonment. This case had a significant impact not just because Dr. Roy’s enormous criminal fraud ring was destroyed, but was also a model of seamless cooperation in health care fraud prosecution efforts by law enforcement agents from HHS-OIG and the FBI.

In just five years with the Department of Justice, AUSA Meitl has prosecuted more than 500 defendants and participated in more than 15 jury trials.  While the Dr. Roy prosecution was ongoing, AUSA Meitl still worked tirelessly to prosecute 89 members of North Texas white supremacist groups in Operation “Vanilla Ice”.  

Other nominees were: 

Emil J. Bove (Southern District of New York)

Daniel A. Chatham (Northern District of Iowa)

Zia M. Faruqui (District of Columbia) 

Elizabeth Gabriel (District of Columbia) 

Julie K. Hampton (Southern District of Texas)

Michael J. Hunter (Southern District of Ohio) 

Nathaniel Kummerfeld (Eastern District of Texas)

Timothy M. O’Shea (Western District of Wisconsin)

Perry H. Piper (Eastern District of Tennessee)

Keith W. Reisenauer (District of North Dakota) 

Matthew W. Shepherd (Northern District of Ohio)

Deborah Sines (District of Columbia) 

Richard M. Tucker (Eastern District of New York) 

Gordon A.D. Zubrod (Middle District of Pennsylvania)  

The total attendance at last weeks annual conference at The Mayflower Hotel in Washington was 227, including 147 NAFUSA members. It was the largest attendance in NAFUSA’s 38 year history. President Bart Daniel and his wife, Cindy, along with the planning committee, are to be commended on their efforts in organizing what many considered the best conference ever.

On Friday evening, Bart passed the gavel to Hal Hardin, who was elected NAFUSA’s newest president. Hal announced the 2018 conference will be held in Nashville on October 24-26. The following were elected officers for 2017-2018: Terry Flynn, president elect; Paul Coggins, vice president; Karen Hewitt, secretary; Chuck Stevens, treasurer, and Bart Daniel, immediate past president.

The NAFUSA board serves three year terms, and Bart thanked the class of 2017, whose terms have ended: Zach Carter, Ken Wainstein, Chuck Stevens, Bob Miller and Neil MacBride. The following were elected as the class of 2020: Ann Tompkins, Donna Bucella, Ken Wainstein, Paul Charlton, and John Richter.

The conference opened on Wednesday evening with a reception, sponsored by Ernst & Young, on the Jones Day rooftop, perhaps the finest venue in D.C., with its commanding view of the Capitol.

CLE programs began on Thursday morning. Following a welcome from Jessie Liu, the US Attorney for the District of Columbia and the traditional introduction of sponsors and the roundhouse introduction of members, the Bradford Award was presented to Evan Norris. Jack Selden led an outstanding panel on the False Claims Act, with Michael Granston, Jack Boese, Bill Nettles and Carmen Ortiz. NAFUSA members were then bused to DOJ for private meetings with DAG Rod Rosenstein, Associate AG Rachel Brand and Deputy EOUSA Director Norman Wong. Class reunions were held on Thursday evening.

The Friday CLE program began with ethics presentation moderated by U.S. District Judge James Boasberg, and featuring the three DOJ “watchdogs” Michael Horowitz, Robin Ashton and Scott Schools. It was followed by an outstanding Supreme Court panel moderated by the Adam Liptak of the New York Times and featuring Ted Olson, Paul Clement and Neal Katyal. Liptak mentioned that he had served on many Supreme Court panels, but none with this firepower. The three advocates have together argued more than 180 cases before the court, and are scheduled to argue most of the important cases currently pending this term. The final panel of the morning was on the impact of social media, moderated by Jay Stephens, with Paula Hannaford-Agor, Judge Herbert Dixon, and Demian Ahn.

On Friday afternoon, all enjoyed a luncheon cruise of the Potomac River. The conference closed with a dinner on Friday night at The Mayflower, featuring keynote speaker DeMaurice Smith, Executive Director of the NFL Players’ Association.

Click here to view hundreds of photos from the 2017 NAFUSA conference at the Mayflower Hotel in Washington DC.

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Washington DC Conference Photos

On Thursday afternoon of the October NAFUSA conference in Washington, NAFUSA members will be bused to Main Justice for a private session with senior DOJ officials. It will take place in the 7th Floor Conference Room and with feature NAFUSA members in a dialogue with the DOJ leaders.

Unfortunately, AG Jeff Sessions will be out of town and unavailable to attend, but will send a video welcome for the attendees. The AG, of course, is a former United States Attorney, having served twelve years in the Southern District of Alabama. The AG’s video will be followed by NAFUSA President Bart Daniel holding  a dialogue with the Director of the Executive Office for United States Attorneys (EOUSA) Monty Wilkinson.

Monty has held this office since 2014 and prior to being appointed Director, served as the Principal Deputy Director and Chief of Staff of EOUSA. Previously he served as Counselor and Deputy Chief of Staff to the Attorney General, and as Associate Deputy Attorney General.

NAFUSA Board Member Karen Hewitt will hold a dialogue with Associate Attorney General Rachel Brand, who was sworn in as the Associate on May 22, 2107. She serves as the third-ranking officer in DOJ. She previously served in the Department from 2003-2007, first as the Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General for the Office of Legal Policy, and then as the Assistant AG for Legal Policy.

 

 

The last dialogue will be led by NAFUSA Board Member Ron Machen with the Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein, who has spent over 27 years in government service. He began his career with the Department as an attorney with the AG’s Honor Program and most recently served as the U.S. Attorney for the District of Maryland from 2005 to 2017.

 

Click here to see speaker bios

Click here to register for the 2017 NAFUSA Annual Conference

This year’s NAFUSA conference will bring together experts on the False Claim Act for an update on this important area of federal practice. The panel will be moderated by NAFUSA Past President Jack Selden (Northern District of Alabama, 1992-1993). Selden, a partner at Bradley Arant Boult Cummings in Birmingham, has extensive experience in cases arising under the FCA and qui tam whistleblower actions, including winning a summary judgment on behalf of AseraCare Hopsice in 2016 in one of the most important cases in FCA history.

 

 

The panel will include Michael Granston, who has served as the Director of the Civil Fraud Section of the Justice Department since 2013. In that capacity he is the leading federal attorney for cases under the FCA.

 

 

 

 

 

 

He will be joined by Jack Boese, a nationally known expert on the FCA. Boese is the author of the book, Civil False Claims and Qui Tam Actions, commonly cited as authority by courts at all levels, including the United States Supreme Court. Boese is a member of the Litigation Department in Fried Frank’s Washington, DC office.

 

 

 

Two newer members of NAFUSA will round out the panel. Bill Nettles served as the United States Attorney for the District of South Carolina, where FCA claims was one of his top priorities. This resulted in his district becoming one of the top districts for false claims recovery. He is now in private practice with a nationwide false claims practice.

 

 

 

 

 

The other NAFUSA member to join the panel is Carmen Ortiz, District of Massachusetts, 2009-2017. She recently joined the law firm of Anderson & Kreiger, while also serving as a visiting professor at Boston College Law School.

 

 

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Click here to register for the 2017 NAFUSA Annual Conference

Friday morning’s CLE program at this year’s NAFUSA conference will include a panel discussion on the “Impact of Social Media on Investigations and Litigation,” Social media increasingly implicates legal considerations from the investigatory process to witness and jury strategy.  Within this broad and cutting edge topic, the program will focus on the effects of social media on participants in the justice system, the use of this new media as evidence, and its application as a basis for charges or legal claims. The program will take place from 10:15 AM to 11:45 AM.

Social media has had a profound and sometimes unexpected impact on civil litigation, white collar investigations, and jury trials.  Evidence derived from social media has served as the basis for prosecutions.  Social media history has complicated witness preparation, tainted witnesses,  and fueled fascinating cross-examinations and depositions. Maintaining the integrity of the jury trial process has been challenged by jurors’ intense interest in exploring social media commentary about a case where the court has charged jurors with finding the truth based on the evidence presented in the courtroom.  Our talented panel of experienced academics and practitioners will explore the issues and  impacts which social media brings to the investigation, litigation, and trial of complex fact patterns and inexplicable human behavior.  Social media communications and venues can transform the discovery, trial preparation, and issue resolution processes for today’s litigators.  Understanding the impact of social media on case development means that litigators today need to be aware how a tweet, a text, or a posting can dramatically complicate effective advocacy and the search for truth.

The panel will be moderated by Jay Stephens, past president of NAFUSA and presently counsel to the board. Jay is of counsel to the Washington office of Kirkland & Ellis and served as the senior vice president and general counsel and corporate secretary of Raytheon Company, during his illustrious career.

 

 

 

The experienced panelists include former D.C. Superior Court Judge Herb Dixon, known as the “Technology Judge”. Judge Dixon is the chair of the ABA Standing Committee on the American Judicial System and a former chair of of the National Conference of State Trial Judges.

 

Assistant U.S. Attorney Demian Ahn, from the District of Columbia will join the panel. He is a senior Computer Hacking and Intellectual Property prosecutor in the Cyber Unit;

 

 

 

The third panelist will be Paula Hannaford-Agor, the Director of the Center for Juries Studies at the National Center for State Courts. She has authored or contributed to numerous books and articles on the American jury system.

 

 

 

Click here to see speaker bios

Click here to register for the 2017 NAFUSA Annual Conference