Jeff Taylor, member of the NAFUSA Board of Directors and former United
States Attorney for the District of Columbia from 2006 to 2009, joined
ExxonMobil in May 2024 as Vice President, General Counsel and Secretary.
Taylor moved to his new position from Fox Corporation, where he was
Executive Vice President and General Counsel. Prior to joining Fox, Taylor was
the Deputy General Counsel and Chief Compliance Officer for General Motors
Co., and General Counsel of Raytheon Integrated Defense Systems. For more
than 15 years he served with the Department of Justice and as Counsel to the
U.S. Senate Committee on the Judiciary.
Taylor replaces former NAFUSA member Craig Morford who is set to retire in
July after five years as general counsel at ExxonMobil. Morford served more
than 20 years with the Department of Justice including assignments as U.S.
Attorney in Michigan and Tennessee before joining Cardinal Health as their
Chief Legal and Compliance Officer. As some of you may recall, Craig Morford
was the 2005 Bradford Award winner. We wish him well in his retirement and
Jeff congratulations on this new position.
The NAFUSA Board of Directors met for its spring meeting in Charleston, South Carolina, on April 13, 2024. Eight directors and all four officers attended in person and five additional directors joined by telephone. In addition to discussing and making decisions regarding the management of the Association, its activities and financial matters, the semi-annual meetings have traditionally been an excellent way for NAFUSA board members and invited guests to get to know each other better while taking care of NAFUSA business. This meeting certainly lived up to tradition.
The meeting was held in the beautiful Charleston Place Hotel, located centrally in the
historic district of Charleston, which, in addition to famous landmarks, is home to the
Charleston Marketplace, amazing restaurants and great shopping opportunities. April is
certainly a great time to visit Charleston!
The Board reviewed financial reports and heard from Executive Director Wendy Goggin regarding the financial status of the Association, including a discussion of the results of the 2023 Annual conference. She also discussed the status of sponsorships already received or pledged for the 2024 Conference in Oklahoma City as well as other NAFUSA business. Deputy Director Lisa Rafferty provided an update on membership numbers – there are currently 359 members, including 140 lifetime members. There are eleven Sustaining Members (see the website for their names). She also advised about the number of unpaid 2024 membership dues.
Much of the meeting was devoted to discussion of the upcoming 2024 Annual Conference to be held in OKC September 25 through 27, 2024. Programming is well underway with many speakers lined up for what promises to be another exciting conference. The members of the 2024 Conference Committee have been working hard to bring outstanding continuing legal education programming to the OKC conference on interesting topics both relevant and timely for our members and guests.
The members in attendance in Charleston enjoyed indulging in the southern cuisine that
the city is famous for, while soaking up the beauty and atmosphere of the historic district. The attached pictures say it all!
After a long and great life, NAFUSA founding member and early president John
Eugene Clark died peacefully in San Antonio, Texas, on February 13, 2024. He
was 90. John’s legal career, as a prosecutor, litigator, judge and writer, in a
combination of private law practice and public service, spanned over 50 years
and included serving as the United States Attorney for the Western District of
Texas and as a Justice of the Texas Court of Appeals (4th District).
Clark, a born and bred Texan, earned his LL.B. in 1961 from the University of
Texas School of Law following a two-year tour of active duty with the United
States Army in the Far East and three years working in private industry. He
remained a staunch supporter of the University of Texas throughout his life. In
1969, after practicing law in Austin for eight years, he moved to Washington,
D.C. and worked in the Department of Justice’s Criminal Division investigating
and prosecuting federal election fraud and illegal campaign financing cases.
Clark returned to his home state in 1971 and joined the U.S. Attorney’s Office
for the Western District of Texas as First Assistant under then U.S. Attorney
William Sessions and later, upon appointed by President Gerald Ford, as the
United States Attorney. During his tenure as U.S. Attorney 1975-1977, Clark
served on the Attorney General’s Advisory Committee.
Clark engaged in private practice until 1981 when Governor William P.
Clements, Jr. appointed him to the Texas Court of Appeals where he served
until 1983. After his return to private practice, much of his time was devoted
to his qui tam practice under the federal False Claims Act and he gained a
national reputation as an expert in the area. During his time in private practice,
Clark chaired the National Institute of Corrections’ Advisory Board and the
Texas Ethics Commission. In 2013, the San Antonio Bar Association awarded
him its Lifetime Achievement Award, the Joe Frazier Brown Award of
Excellence (see May 31, 2013 NAFUSA newsletter article).
One of the founding members of NAFUSA, Clark was a life member and
served as its third president 1982-1983. He remained devoted to the organization throughout his life, and, in fact, according to his daughter Leslie he was wearing his NAFUSA hat the day before he passed away. NAFUSA owes him a great debt for his
leadership and determination in creating this organization and contributing to its success. On February 20, 2024, a flag was flown over the Department of
Justice in John Clark’s honor and was presented to his widow Carolyn Tevis Clark and family at the funeral services on February 28 by his longtime friend NAFUSA member Ron Ederer. In addition to his devoted wife, Clark is survived by his
children, Karen Cork, Leslie Sartori, John C. Clark and Charles W. Clark,
numerous grandchildren and great-grandchildren.
Atlanta area NAFUSA members – who like to be called the “(unofficial) Atlanta Chapter of NAFUSA”- gathered on Wednesday February 21, 2024 at an undisclosed, but clearly fine, location. Thanks to Holly Hampton of Womble Bond Dickinson for sharing the photo with us. From left to right: current U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Georgia, Ryan K. Buchanan; Judge William “Bill” S. Duffey, Jr. (Retired) (2001-2004); Hon. John A. Horn (King & Spalding) (2015-2017); twice-appointed former U.S. Attorney for the Northern (Atlanta 1990-1993) and Middle (Macon 1981-1986) Districts of Georgia, Joe Whitley (middle); Hon. Richard “Rick” H. Deane (Jones Day) (1998-2001); Jr., Hon. Larry D. Thompson (Finch McCranie/Retired) (1982-1986); and Hon. Robert “Bob” L. Barr, Jr. (1986-1990).
Beloved NAFUSA member Edward (Ed) Tarver passed away from
complications of surgery on February 9, 2024, in Augusta, Georgia. He was 64.
His friends and colleagues remember his ready smile, infectious laughter and
his service to justice and to his community.
Ed, who was recognized as a “trailblazing black attorney and civic leader” in a
headline announcing his death in the Augusta Chronicle, led a full and
honorable life of public service. Following graduation from then Augusta
College in 1981, he entered the U.S. Army, serving a tour in South Korea in
1982 and rising to the rank of Captain. Upon his discharge from the Army in
1989, Ed followed his dream to attend law school, earning his law degree in
1991 from the University of Georgia. After graduating, he clerked for U.S.
District Court Judge Dudley Bowen in the Southern District of Georgia.
Ed rose to become a partner in the Augusta, Georgia firm Hull Barrett and
served as a State Senator from Georgia’s 22nd District from 2005-2009. In
2009, President Obama nominated him to become U.S. Attorney for the
Southern District of Georgia, becoming the first African American to hold that
position. He was sworn in by Federal Judge Bowen who praised his former law
clerk as a “man of integrity.” After resigning from the U.S. Attorney position in
2017, he cofounded the firm Enoch Tarver with his law partner Ed Enoch.
An editorial in the Savannah Morning News in 2017 named Ed Tarver “one of
the best U.S. Attorneys in a long line of professional prosecutors who have
held this important post.” In addition to his professional accomplishments. Ed
held leadership positions in community and fraternity activities including,
among many others, the Augusta Chamber of Commerce, the Leadership
Georgia Foundation’s Board of Trustees, and the East Georgia Easter Seals
Society. He was a member of Doyle Grove Missionary Baptist Church.
Ed is survived by his wife Dr. Carol Thompson Tarver, a pediatrician in Augusta,
Georgia, daughter Elizabeth Tarver and son Edward Tarver, Jr. and
stepdaughters Riley and Ryan Armant.
In accordance with NAFUSA tradition, a flag was flown in his honor over the Department of Justice on February 12, 2024.
In December 2023, President Biden appointed NAFUSA member David Hickton to
serve a three-year term on the Public Interest Declassification Board (PIDB)
beginning January 11, 2024. Hickton joins the other members of the nine-person
board who, according to the founding statute, are preeminent in the fields of
history, national security, foreign policy, intelligence policy, social science, law, or
archives.
The PIDB, which was established in 2014, advises and provides recommendations
to the President and other executive branch officials on the “systematic,
coordinated, and comprehensive identification, collection, review for
declassification, and release of declassified records and materials of historic
value…” It serves to promote the fullest possible public access to materials
without undermining the national security of the United States. Five of the nine
members are appointed by the President, and one each by the Speaker and
Minority Leader of the House, and the Majority and Minority Leaders of the
Senate. The current Chair is Mary DeRosa, a Professor from Practice and codirector of the Global Law Scholars Program at the Georgetown University Law
Center. Other members include Andrew Byrnes, Laura DeBonis, Carmen Medina,
Carter Burwell, Ezra Cohen, and Alissa Starzak.
David Hickton left the private practice of law to serve as the U.S. Attorney for the
Western District of Pennsylvania from August 2010 to November 2016, after being
nominated by President Obama. He founded the University of Pittsburgh Institute
for Cyber Law, Policy and Security in 2017 and also has faculty appointments there
as a professor in the School of Law, the School of Computing and Information, and
the Graduate School of Public Information and International Affairs. He currently
serves as Managing Trustee of the National Opioid Abatement Trust II. He is a
graduate of the Pennsylvania State University and the University of Pittsburgh
School of Law.
NAFUSA member Russell Coleman was sworn in as the Commonwealth of Kentucky’s 52nd Attorney General in a private ceremony on January 1, 2024. His wife Ashley and two of their children attended the ceremony. Coleman served as the United States Attorney for the Western District of Kentucky from 2017 to 2021.
NAFUSA Board member Barbara McQuade has written a new book, Attack from Within, about the impact of disinformation on America, The book is set to be
released on February 24, 2024. According to pre-publishing information, Ms.
McQuade writes that America is under attack and the weapon is misinformation.
Her book explores how authoritarians throughout history have manipulated the
truth to advance their own agendas and how disinformation is impacting our
democracy.
Ms. McQuade, currently a Professor of Law at the University of Michigan Law
School, her alma mater, was the United States Attorney for the Eastern District of
Michigan from 2010 to 2017, the first woman to hold that position. She currently
sits on the NAFUSA Board of Directors as a member of the class of 2025. In
addition to being a law professor, she is also a legal analyst for NBC and MSNBC.
Attack from Within is Ms. McQuade’s first book and has already received glowing
reviews. Former U.S. Attorney General Eric H. Holder, Jr. described her book as
“…a compelling work about a challenge that–left unexamined and left
unchecked—could undermine our democracy.”
As its members know, NAFUSA was founded in March 1979, as a non-profit, by a
handful of former United States Attorneys with a stated purpose to “promote,
defend and further the integrity and the preservation of the litigating authority
and independence of the office of the United States Attorney…” Its first president
was co-founder Bill Mulligan, a Carter appointee from the Eastern District of
Wisconsin.
Since that time, NAFUSA has grown in numbers and to be a more diverse
organization reflecting the appointments made by the presidential administrations
and Attorneys General in the intervening years. We now have over 370 members
and continue to grow. While the chance to reconnect with former Department of
Justice (DOJ) colleagues, to obtain continuing legal education hours in beautiful
venues with great camaraderie, and to develop business opportunities remain
motivating factors for new membership, the founding principles remain the same.
NAFUSA continues to be a great value and a dynamic organization.
With every presidential election cycle, we see an influx of new members. The
largest “class” of former U.S. Attorneys to become NAFUSA members in number,
so far, are from the George W. Bush administration of whom there are currently
81 members. Following closely behind are members representing the Trump
administration with 80 members. The newest member is from the Biden
administration along with 3 others from that administration to date. There are 68
former Obama administration U.S. Attorneys, 52 from the Clinton administration
and 40 NAFUSA members from the Reagan administration. Former George Bush
administration appointees number 24 and there are 20 from the Carter
administration. Finally, we have nine NAFUSA members from the Ford
administration, eight from the Nixon administration and two from the Johnson
administration. What amazing history is reflected in our membership!
Our members include not only former U. S. Attorneys, but also FBI Directors Bob
Mueller and Chris Wray, and former Attorneys General, Deputy Attorneys General
and other high ranking DOJ officials. One of the first Attorney General members
was Dick Thornburg, who served under President Reagan.
We look forward to welcoming new members from all administrations and seeing
them at our annual conferences!
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