NAFUSA’s newest member is Robert E. O’Neill, who stepped down as the United States Attorney for the Middle District of Florida in 2013 to join the Freeh Group International Solutions, LLC (FGIS) where he became a Managing Director.

A native of the Bronx, New York, O’Neill has been a resident of Florida for over 20 years and has spent most of that time prosecuting crimes in federal courtrooms in Tampa and Miami. Prior to serving the Middle District since 1993, O’Neill served as Assistant U.S. Attorney in the Southern District of Florida in Miami from 1986 to 1990.

Louis J. Freeh, former FBI Director and FGIS Chairman, said he was delighted to have O’Neill on-board and explained that his Florida experience brings additional strategic value to the firm. O’Neill opened the new Miami office for FGIS, a strategy that not only draws on O’Neill’s significant local knowledge, but also provides a base for FGIS’ growing Latin American practice.

O’Neill has held most of the other senior leadership positions within the U.S. Attorney’s Office in the Middle District of Florida, including: First Assistant United States Attorney; Chief of the Criminal Division; and Chief of the Special Prosecution Section. O’Neill also has served with distinction as Deputy Chief in Charge of Litigation, Narcotics and Dangerous Drugs Section, U.S. Department of Justice, and as an Associate Independent Counsel, on two separate occasions. O’Neill said he was excited to be part of a growing firm like FGIS whose reputation as a leader is well known. “I am thrilled to team up with a group of outstanding professionals who are doing great work for great clients,” said O’Neill, “and to work with the likes of Louie Freeh, Jim Bucknam, and their colleagues, some of whom I have known for over 25 years, is a bonus.”

O’Neill’s early career includes serving as an Assistant District Attorney in the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office and practicing as a trial lawyer in the New York law firm of Kramer, Dillof, Tessel, Duffy & Moore. O’Neill graduated from Fordham University, Bronx, New York (magna cum laude) and New York Law School (cum laude).

Freeh Group International Solutions, LLC (FGIS) is a global risk management firm serving in the areas of business integrity and compliance, safety and security, and investigations and due diligence. FGIS was founded by Louis J. Freeh, former director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and former federal judge. In addition to Judge Freeh, the management team of FGIS includes former senior law enforcement officials, legal consultants, accountants, and security and compliance experts.

NAFUSA member and former NAFUSA president, William Mulligan, former president of the Marquette University Law Alumni Association, will be honored with the Lifetime Achievement Award from Marquette University Law School and the Marquette University Alumni Association in a ceremony Thursday, April 24. Mulligan earned a degree from Marquette University Law School in 1960.

Since 1991, Mulligan has been a shareholder of Davis & Kuelthau, S.C., where he represents individuals, businesses and local government entities in litigation matters including environmental, securities, antitrust and insurance coverage disputes.

He was an assistant professor in the Law School in the late 1970s and served as a director of the Law Alumni Association form 1991-94, including a role as president in 1992-93.

He is a member of the steering committee of the Milwaukee Justice Center, a collaboration among the Milwaukee Bar Association, Milwaukee County and Marquette University Law School.

William and his late wife, Mary, raised four children and sent them all to Marquette University.

On the award, William Mulligan says, “I am honored to receive the Lifetime Achievement Award. It serves as a humbling recognition of the many roads I have traveled in my career as well as my commitment to the community. More so, it reflects the success of my Marquette education, the mentoring, counseling and support I received from my wife, Mary, my family, and the skilled attorneys and judges whom I have had the fortune to work with over the years.”

Mulligan served as the United States Attorney for the Eastern District of Wisconsin, 1974-1978.

The Law School Alumni Awards ceremony is part of Marquette University’s Alumni Awards weekend, April 24-26, during which each college recognizes the contributions of its alumni and presents awards to those demonstrating exceptional achievement. For more information, visit http://www.marquette.edu/alumni/awards/ceremonies.php.

NAFUSA member David Iglesias was mobilized back into active duty status with the Navy to prosecute suspected Al Qaeda members being held at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. He worked at the Office of Military Commissions (OMC) in Washington and in Gitmo. OMC’s jurisdiction is limited to alleged war criminals as defined by the Military Commissions Act of 2009. Iglesias was a senior prosecutor, team leader and spokesman between 2008-2013. He retired earlier this month as a Navy JAG Captain with 30 years of combined active duty and reserve experience. During his terminal leave period he worked with the national security/CT company of the Soufan Group.

Iglesias has been appointed by Wheaton College as the new director of the J. Dennis Hastert Center. Iglesias will start his duties on July 1 and will be responsible for overseeing the programs of the Hastert Center, as well as teaching some politics and international relations courses, including national security courses.

Iglesias, a 1980 graduate of Wheaton College, was the U.S. Attorney for the District of New Mexico under the Bush Administration from 2001 to 2006. Iglesias has also worked as a state, federal and military prosecutor, focusing on national security and terrorism cases.

Iglesias said that he is looking forward to using his past career experiences to serve the Hastert Center and the Wheaton College community. “I’m thrilled to be the new director of the Hastert Center,” said Iglesias. “I’ll do my best to use my many years of government, political and military experience to benefit Wheaton students.”

In addition to serving as the Hastert Center director, Iglesias will also serve as this year’s commencement speaker, a decision made by the senior class in collaboration with the president of Wheaton.

Iglesias was a part of the legal team that inspired the 1989 play and 1992 film “A Few Good Men,” starring Tom Cruise, Jack Nicholson and Demi Moore.

“The character played by Tom Cruise in the movie “A Few Good Men” is based, in part, on David Iglesias when he prosecuted a case at the Guantanamo Naval Station as a Navy JAG attorney in the 1980s,” Stephen Bretsen, chair of the politics and international relations department said. “The attorney played by Demi Moore in the movie is based on the sister of Aaron Sorkin (the playwright). He learned about the case from her, and it became the basis for a play he wrote, which was later rewritten as a screenplay for the movie. The facts of the case were changed and embellished to make the story more dramatic.”

After retiring as Chief Judge of the 19th Judicial Circuit of Lake County, Judge Fred Foreman is returning to private practice to serve as Senior Counsel at Freeborn & Peters LLP in the firm’s Government & Regulatory Law Practice Group and Complex Litigation & Antitrust Team. Judge Foreman previously worked at the Chicago-based firm as a civil litigator, including service as outside counsel on behalf of the State of Illinois v. Philip Morris, et al. and as special counsel in representing state officials and state agencies. Judge Foreman has tried more than 200 cases in federal and state courts and previously served as United States Attorney for the Northern District of Illinois from 1990-1993 and as States Attorney of Lake County from 1980-1990, where he was elected to three terms.

Judge Foreman’s experience includes trials involving antitrust, securities, RICO, environmental, constitutional law, civil rights, fraud and murder. He has extensive experience in advising clients on matters pending before state and federal regulatory agencies and has successfully assisted clients in passing legislation before the state legislature and units of local government. He has supervised numerous corporate internal investigations and represented clients throughout the world on matters of corporate espionage, electronic intrusions and theft of intellectual property.

 Judge Foreman said:

I am looking forward to returning to Freeborn & Peters as Senior Counsel and assisting the firm’s clients, as well as my own former clients, with legal solutions to business challenges and regulatory issues. I also hope to remain active as a member of the bar association committees in which I have involvement and other appointments that I may receive.

Judge Foreman also serves as a member of Senator Mark Kirk’s Judicial Review Commission, a nonpartisan group composed of legal professionals from around the state. Part of the Commission’s purpose is to screen applicants to fill judicial vacancies on the District Court for the Northern District of Illinois.

Judge Foreman participates in a number of pro bono activities, including serving as a member of the board of the Illinois Judges Association, as a member of the board of the Illinois Judges Association Foundation, and as a Past President and member of the Board of the Jefferson Inn. He has also served on the Board of the Lake County Bar Association. Judge Foreman is a graduate of The John Marshall Law School.

Freeborn & Peters LLP is a full-service law firm, headquartered in Chicago, with international capabilities. For more information, visit: www.freeborn.com.

Davis Polk & Wardwell LLP  announced that Neil MacBride, former U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia, 2009-2013, has joined the firm as a partner in its Washington office. Today is MacBride’s first day at Davis Polk and his first day as a member of NAFUSA.

Before his appointment as U.S. Attorney, MacBride served as associate deputy attorney general at the Department of Justice in 2009. He also served as chief counsel and staff director for then-Senator Joseph R. Biden, Jr. from 2001 to 2005 on the Senate Judiciary Committee.  From 1997 to 2001, MacBride served as an assistant U.S. attorney in the District of Columbia.  During his time as an AUSA and as U.S. Attorney for EDVA, he conducted more than 25 jury trials.

In joining Davis Polk, MacBride said,

Davis Polk is one of the world’s great law firms, and one of the few remaining true and lockstep partnerships.  Its white collar and government investigations practice has long been one of the most respected in the world.  I am thrilled to be joining Davis Polk and developing the firm’s increasingly important presence in the nation’s capital and I look forward to working with my new partners in advising our clients on their most difficult criminal, congressional and regulatory problems.

In announcing MacBride’s addition to the firm, Davis Polk stated:

Mr. MacBride’s tenure as U.S. Attorney for the EDVA was universally regarded as extremely successful.  He led the office in bringing cases of national and international significance, involving financial fraud, international corruption, copyright infringement and trade secret theft, defense procurement fraud, money laundering, terrorism and cybersecurity.  Some of the most significant matters during his tenure involved the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, the Securities Act of 1933, the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, the Wire and Mail Fraud statutes, the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act, the Electronic Communications Privacy Act, the Arms Export Control Act, the False Claims Act and the Federal Tort Claims Act.

Davis Polk is a global law firm and has approximately 900 lawyers in offices in New York, Menlo Park, Washington DC, São Paulo, London, Paris, Madrid, Hong Kong, Beijing and Tokyo.  For more information: http://www.davispolk.com.

The National Law Journal announced today its annual list of America’s 50 Outstanding General Counsel and it included two NAFUSA members, Jay Stephens and Larry Thompson.

Stephens, left, immediate past president of NAFUSA, is the senior vice president, general counsel and secretary of Raytheon Company. He served as the United States Attorney for the District of Columbia, 1988-1993 and as the associate attorney general and in the White House as deputy counsel to President Reagan.

Thompson, executive vice president, government affairs, general counsel and corporate secretary of PepsiCo, Inc, shown right, served as the United States Attorney for the Northern District of Georgia, 1982-1986, and as the deputy attorney general.

On March 10, 2014, General Motors announced it had hired NAFUSA member Anton “Tony” Valukas to help lead an internal probe of an ignition-switch failure tied to at least 13 deaths. The investigation will focus on the handling of the flaw that prompted the recall of 1.6 million vehicles and will be conducted jointly by a team led by Valukas and GM General Counsel Michael Millikin. Attorneys from King & Spaulding are also part of the team, according to G.M.

The New York Times reported this morning that the Justice Department has begun an investigation into GM’s alleged “decade-long failure to address deadly safety problems before announcing a huge vehicle recall last month, according to people briefed on the matter.” It is unclear whether the federal probe is civil or criminal but is led by federal prosecutors in New York and is “expected to center on whether G.M., the nation’s largest automaker, failed to comply with laws requiring timely disclosure of vehicle defects.” In addition, there are indications that both the House and the Senate will hold hearings on the issue and the National Highway Traffice Safety Administration is undertaking its own investigation.

Valukas, Chairman of Jenner & Block LLP in Chicago, served as the United States Attorney for the Northern District of Illinois from 1985 to 1989. He has also served as the Justice Department appointed examiner of the downfall of Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc., and represented the bankrupt assets of GM during the SEC investigation of the company’s pension accounting. He is a Fellow of the American College of TrIal Lawyers. He has been an instructor at the John Marshall School of Law and an Adjunct Professor of Law at Northwestern University School of Law. He is a graduate of Northwestern School of Law.

Mark W. Buyck, Jr., NAFUSA member, who served as United States Attorney for the District of South Carolina in 1975 to 1977, was honored at the 2014 South Carolina Bar Association meeting with the DuRant Award for Distinguished Public Service. The award recognizes long and illustrious public service and outstanding leadership to the profession, community, state and nation, and is considered the highest award presented by the South Carolina Bar Foundation.

Buyck practices with the Florence, SC law firm of Wllcox, Buyck & Williams, P.A., and is a past-president of the S. C. Defense Trial Attorneys Association.  He is a permanent member of the U. S. Fourth Circuit Judicial Conference, and past-chairman of USC Law School Association. He is a former member of the Federation of Insurance and Corporate Counsel and the National Association of Railroad Trial Counsel and a member of the American College of Trial Lawyers and the American Board of Trial Advocates.  He is past-president of the S. C. Chapter of ABOTA and a current member of its national board of directors.  Buyck is past-chairman of the National College of District Attorneys Committee of the American College of Trial Lawyers and a regent and vice president of the National College of District Attorneys.

He graduated from the University of South Carolina  law school.  He is on the Board of Trustees of the University of South Carolina.  He was named Distinguished Alumni by the USC Alumni Association in 2005 and received an honorary degree from Carolina at the May 2008 graduation. Buyck has been active in civic affairs, serving as president of the Florence Rotary Club, the Florence Country Club, and the Florence Little Theatre.  He was one of the founders of the Florence Heritage Foundation, the first chairman of its board and current president.

Buyck is past President of the South Carolina Historical Society. He served for a decade on the initial Advisory Board of the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C. He is a former member of the Executive Committee of the S.C. State Bar Foundation. He has been honored by two Governors of South Carolina with the Order of the Palmetto, the state’s highest award, and has been listed in all published editions of the Best Lawyers in America. He received the prestigious honor of the Judge Hemphill award for distinguished service to the profession and the public by the S.C. Defense Trial Attorneys Association and the Compleat Lawyer award by the USC Law School. In 2006 he was presented the Distinguished Alumni Award by the University of South Carolina and in 2008 he received an Honorary Doctor of Laws degree from the USC School of Law. Buyck is a member of the Board of Directors of The Bank of Clarendon and IRIX Pharmaceuticals, Inc. He serves on the Board of Trustees and as Secretary of Drs. Bruce and Lee Foundation and is a member of the Carolinas Hospital System Board of Trustees.

The Fort Smith (AR) City Wire reported on February 19, 2014, that NAFUSA member Asa Hutchinson (R) is tied with ex-Rep Mike Ross (D), in a poll taken in Arkansas on February 12, at 42% each in the 2014 race to succeed term-limited Gov. Mike Beebe (D). Although he faces several primary challengers, the City Wire reports that Hutchinson is considered the GOP frontrunner.

Hutchinson served as the United States Attorney for the Western District of Arkansas, 1982-1985, and in the U.S. House of Representatives. He also served as the administrator of the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration and Undersecretary, U.S. Department of Homeland Security.