The 2022 NAFUSA conference is confirmed at the Hotel del Coronado. Due to the pandemic, it will be NAFUSA’s first conference since 2019 in San Francisco. Golf for those interested will be held at Torrey Pines north course the morning of Wednesday April 6, 2022. The conference will kick off Wednesday evening with an event from 6:30-9:30 pm at the hotel on the beach. CLE programs will be on Thursday and Friday from 8:00 am to approximately noon. An off site event will be planned for either Thursday or Friday afternoon for all to attend. As usual, Thursday evening will be the class dinners. We are looking for a “captain” from each administration to coordinate the class dinners. Please reach out to Lisa Rafferty if you would like to take on that role. The conference will conclude Friday evening with a dinner and key note speaker. The conference committee is working hard to put together an amazing program. Details will be released once speakers are confirmed. Keep an eye on our monthly newsletters for updates on the conference. Registration will open in January 2022.
King & Spalding announced on June 17, 2021 that McGregor (Greg) Scott, most recently the United States Attorney for the Eastern District of California, will join the firm as a partner in the firm’s Special Matters and Government Investigations team. He will be based in San Francisco and Sacramento. Scott is a lifetime member of NAFUSA and a former board member.
Scott was twice nominated by the president and unanimously confirmed by the Senate to serve as the U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District, from 2001 to 2009 and from 2017 to 2021. As U.S. Attorney, he oversaw federal prosecutions and civil litigation from 34 counties and supervised 100 attorneys. In between those stints, he was a partner at Orrick, Herrington & Sutcliffe, where he vice chaired its White Collar Defense and Corporate Investigations Practice Group. An experienced trial lawyer, Scott has represented major companies across multiple industries—including health care, retail and construction—that faced government investigations. He also has deep experience on matters involving consumer protection, construction accidents, the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act and the False Claims Act.
“Greg is a natural leader with exceptional talent and energy,” said Zach Fardon, who leads King & Spalding’s Government Matters practice, which includes the Special Matters and Government Investigations team. “He will be a force multiplier for King & Spalding in his ability to provide clients with representation on both criminal as well as civil/regulatory governmental investigations.” King & Spalding now has nine former United States Attorneys with Scott joining Zach Fardon, John Richter, Craig Carpenito, Rod Rosenstein, John Horn, Sally Yates, Jim Vines and Paul Murphy.
Prior to his federal government post, Scott was twice elected District Attorney of Shasta County, and prior to that was a deputy district attorney in Contra Costa “With a stellar runway of experience and deep connections in the DOJ and California legal community, Greg is well-positioned to further expand our investigations and litigation work on the West Coast, nationally and globally,” said San Francisco office managing partner Charles Correll. “He also has a reputation for working in a collaborative and pragmatic fashion. He’ll be a formidable asset to the firm.”
Scott retired in 2008 as a lieutenant colonel from the U.S. Army Reserve after 23 years of service as an infantry officer. He earned his JD from the University of California, Hastings College of the Law, and his undergraduate degree from Santa Clara University.
“I had the privilege of working directly with several King & Spalding lawyers in two previous presidential administrations, persons for whom I have the greatest personal and professional respect,” said Scott. “I believe great results will be created for clients when my network across the nation in general and in California in particular is added to King & Spalding’s exemplary client base and legal firepower. I could not be more pleased to be joining this great law firm.”
Please join us in celebrating the legacy of former U.S. Attorney and Attorney General, Dick Thornburgh, who passed away December 31 at age 88, and the inspiration of his career in public service.
Dick was honored and remembered in a virtual tribute by his former Department of Justice colleagues:
Mike McKay, K&L Gates, Seattle (U.S. Attorney, Seattle, WDWA, 1989-93)
Dick Thornburgh was born on July 16, 1932 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. He graduated with a bachelor’s degree in engineering from Yale University in 1954 and earned his LL.B degree from the University of Pittsburgh in 1957. Mr. Thornburgh also holds honorary degrees from 31 colleges and universities.
Following law school, Mr. Thornburgh worked in private industry until 1959 when he joined the Pittsburgh law firm then known as Kirkpatrick, Pomeroy, Lockhart & Johnson. In 1967, he was elected as a delegate to the Pennsylvania Constitutional Convention. From 1969 to 1975, Mr. Thornburgh was the U.S. Attorney for the Western District of Pennsylvania and was appointed Assistant Attorney General for the Criminal Division in 1975, serving two years in Washington, D.C. in that role before returning to private practice as a partner at Kirkpatrick, Lockhart, Johnson & Hutchison. Pennsylvania elected Mr. Thornburgh governor in 1979 and he served two terms. Mr. Thornburgh also taught courses at the Harvard University Kennedy School of Government and directed that school’s Institute of Politics from 1987 to 1988.
Appointed by President Reagan, Dick Thornburgh was sworn in as Attorney General on August 12, 1988. President George H.W. Bush reinstated him as Attorney General in 1989 and he served until 1991. In 1992, the American Legion honored Mr. Thornburgh with its highest award, the “Distinguished Services Medal.” He published his autobiography in 2003 entitled, Where the Evidence Leads: The Autobiography of Dick Thornburgh.
Thomas Sullivan, who served as the United States Attorney for the Northern District of Illinois, 1977-1981, died on May 18 at his home in Wilmette, Illinois. He was 91. He was succeeded in office by NAFUSA member Dan Webb (1981-1985) and then by NAFUSA member Anton “Tony” Valukas (1985-1989).
Tom was best known for initiating “Operation Greylord” to root out bribery and case-fixing in the Cook County Circuit Court system. A total of 92 officials were indicted, including 17 judges, 48 lawyers and 10 deputy sheriffs. Outside of his time in public service, Tom spent most of his career at Jenner & Block along with Tony Valukas. He helped build the firm’s pro bono practice, including being part of an effort to end the death penalty in Illinois and working to free detainees from Guantanamo Bay.
He is survived by his wife, Anne Landau, and his daughters, Maggie Sullivan Cescolini and Liza Sullivan; a son, Tim; a step-daughter, Mimi Landau; and six grandchildren. Tom earned his law degree at Loyola University Chicago School of Law.
As is our custom, at NAFUSA’s request an American flag was flown in Tom’s honor over Main Justice and presented to his family as a token of the esteem with which he was held by his colleagues.
The University of Virginia School of Law is offering a new course this fall entitled “The Mueller Report and the Role of the Special Counsel.” It will be taught by NAFUSA member Bob Mueller and three members of his team. Mueller led the nearly two-year-long inquiry into President Donald Trump’s dealings with Russia and its potential interference in the 2016 election. Over six in-person sessions, they will take a chronological look at the investigation and the function of a special counsel. The course will focus on the key decisions made during the course of the investigation and the challenges and tradeoffs presented by those decisions.
Mueller was a United States Marine Corps officer, an Assistant United States Attorney in three different offices, the United States Attorney for the Northern District of California, the Assistant Attorney General in charge of the Criminal Division, and the longest-serving Director of the FBI since J. Edgar Hoover. He earned his law degree in 1973 from the University of Virginia School of Law, where he served on the Law Review. He is currently a partner at WilmerHale in Washington.
On January 21, 2021, Robins Kaplan LLP filed an amicus brief in the United States Supreme Court on behalf of ten former United States Attorneys. The case, United States v. Cooley, concerns the scope of tribal law enforcement’s search and seizure authority over non-Natives on the Reservation. The ten amici included Robins Kaplan partners and NAFUSA members Tim Purdon and Brendan Johnson, along with several other NAFUSA members.
On June 1, 2021, the Supreme Court issued its unanimous opinion holding that a tribal police officer has authority to detain temporarily and to search non-Indian persons traveling on public rights-of-way running through a reservation for potential violations of state or federal law. In doing so, the Court twice cited the amicus brief of the ten former United States Attorneys twice on pages 7 and 8: Click here to read the Supreme Court opinion.
On May 25, 2021, the Senate confirmed Kristen Clarke as Assistant Attorney General for Civil Rights. The vote was 51-48. Clarke started her career as an attorney in the Civil Rights Division. She has been most recently the president and executive director of the National Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Law and has served as the head of the Civil Rights Bureau at the New York Attorney General’s Office. She earned her law degree from Harvard University.
The “polls” closed on Monday, May 24, 2021, on the NAFUSA on-line election and survey. 104 members recorded their votes, sufficient to meet the quorum of 69 (20% of our current membership of 347 active members). 99 members approved the postponement of the 2021 annual conference to a date in 2022 considered by the NAFUSA board of directors, in their sole discretion, to be safe for travel and meeting in a large group. Only 5 members voted no. Negotiations are near conclusion on holding the next conference in San Diego at the Hotel Del Coronado on April 6-8, 2022.
The following were elected officers effective immediately to serve until the adjournment of the annual conference in 2022: Karen Hewitt, President; Chuck Stevens, President Elect; Ken Wainstein, Vice President; Donna Bucella, Secretary; John Richter, Treasurer; Paul Coggins, Immediate Past President.
The following were elected directors as the Class of 2024, effective immediately to serve a three year term until the adjournment of the annual conference in 2024: John Brownlee, Willy Ferrer, Carol Lam, Paul Fishman, Chuck Rosenberg, Melinda Haag.
97 of the 104 members who completed the survey expressed a present intention to attend the San Diego conference next April, with only 7 indicating they do not plan to attend. This strong support for the San Diego conference will assist greatly in finalizing plans with the hotel.
On May 24, 2021, Karen Hewitt was elected president of NAFUSA. She will serve until the 2022 annual conference, tentatively scheduled for April 6-8 at the Del Coronado in San Diego. She replaces Paul Coggins, who served as president from 2019 until this May. Paul will continue on the board of directors as the immediate past president.
Karen is the Partner-in-Charge of Jones Day’s California Region, which encompasses five offices and nearly 300 lawyers. She has been recognized in Chambers as a “real powerhouse.” Before joining Jones Day, Karen served as the United States Attorney for the Southern District of California (2007-2010), where she focused on national security, border security, cyber and intellectual property crime, white collar and financial crime, civil fraud, violent crime, and narcotics enforcement.
Karen is an experienced trial lawyer who has successfully litigated hundreds of cases in federal court for more than two decades. She currently represents companies nationwide in civil and criminal investigations and in complex business litigation. Karen’s practice focuses on defending matters involving possible violations of federal law, including the Anti-Kickback Statute, the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, the Taft-Hartley Act, and the False Claims Act.
Karen led the defense of an international retailer in a complex FCPA investigation conducted by the DOJ and SEC in four countries. She also has represented major public and private companies in internal investigations on highly sensitive topics, crisis management, compliance, contested proceedings before regulatory agencies, and “bet-the-company” litigation. In the matters Karen leads, she routinely reports to senior management, the board of directors, the audit committee or a special committee, and develops the comprehensive strategy for the company to protect and defend itself from a range of legal and regulatory risks.
She is a Master in the Enright Inn of Court and a member of the Board of Visitors of the University of San Diego School of Law, from which she earned her J.D. in 1989.
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