NAFUSA Annual Conference Sept 25-27

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This year’s NAFUSA annual conference will be held in San Francisco September 25-27 at The Westin St. Francis. The deadline to obtain the group rate is September 3. There is no guaranty rooms will be available after that date. If you any difficulties reserving a room, contact Lisa Rafferty.

The conference will open on Wednesday, September 25, with a welcome reception at the hotel sponsored by Guidepost Solutions. In honor of NAFUSA’s 40th anniversary, the opening reception will recognize and honor the founding members, past presidents and executive directors. Golf will be available on Wednesday morning at Presidio Golf Course.

On Thursday and Friday mornings, the CLE programs will feature:

  • a panel on artificial intelligence/technology with Courtney Bowman of Palantir Technologies, Scott Schools of UBER and Eric Vandevelde of Gibson Dunn, moderated by NAFUSA Board Member Anne Tompkins
  • a dialogue with EOUSA and the AGAC with Jessie Liu and Norman Wong, moderated by NAFUSA Board Member Donna Bucella
  • a presentation on the United States Supreme Court by Dean Erwin Chemerinsky of Berkeley Law
  • a presentation by Professor Jennifer Eberhardt of Stanford University on “Unconscious Bias in Law Enforcement” with NAFUSA member Carol Lam
  • and an ethics presentation by Stanford Law Professor Deborah Rhode.

On Thursday afternoon, there will be a luncheon and harbor cruise on SanFrancisco Bay. Thursday evening is reserved for class reunions at various off-site locations. On Friday afternoon following the CLE, there will be a luncheon at the hotel, followed by a tour of the Historic Browning Courthouse courtesy of Hon. Michael Hawkins, U.S. Circuit Judge (9th Circuit). The conference will close on Friday evening with dinner and a general membership meeting. Our keynote speaker on Friday night will be Hon. Christopher Wray, Director of the FBI.

Click here to view the San Francisco program.

Click here to read the biographies of our 2019 conference speakers.

David Barlow Nominated as Judge on the U.S District Court of Utah

On May 29, 2019, President Trump announced his intention to nominate NAFUSA member David Barlow to serve as Judge on the U.S. District Court for the District of Utah.

Barlow joined Dorsey & Whitney in its Utah office in October 2018, following a career in private practice and as United States Attorney for the District of Utah. Immediately prior to joining Dorsey, David was a Vice President for Walmart’s $40-billion Health and Wellness businesses, including more than 8,000 pharmacies, vision centers and medical clinics throughout the United States. Before joining Walmart, he was a partner in Sidley Austin LLP for more than a decade, where he handled government and internal investigations across the United States, Europe and Asia, represented clients in both civil and criminal matters in state and federal courts and litigated a wide range of cases.

He was nominated by President Barack Obama and unanimously confirmed by the Senate as U.S. Attorney for the District of Utah in September 2011. Immediately prior to his service as U.S. Attorney, he served as Senator Mike Lee’s Chief Counsel on the Senate Judiciary Committee.

In his role as U.S. Attorney from 2011 to 2014, Barlow led an office of approximately 85 personnel, including 40 Assistant U.S. Attorneys who represented the United States in criminal prosecutions and civil litigation. During his tenure, the office conducted thousands of investigations and prosecutions together with federal, state and local law enforcement agencies. He also served on the DOJ’s national White Collar Crime Subcommittee and Healthcare Fraud Working Group and chaired the Local Government Coordination Working Group. Barlow also served on the Attorney General’s Advisory Committee.

Barlow completed his three year term on the NAFUSA Board of Directors last October.

Erwin Chemerinsky to give Supreme Court Update at NAFUSA 2019 Conference in San Francisco

Erwin Chemerinsky will give the Supreme Court Update at the NAFUSA 2019 Annual Conference in San Francisco. This will be his second time doing so, as he gave the Supreme Court Update in 2016 at our San Diego Conference.

Erwin Chemerinsky became the 13th Dean of Berkeley Law on July 1, 2017, when he joined the faculty as the Jesse H. Choper Distinguished Professor of Law.
Prior to assuming this position, from 2008-2017, he was the founding Dean and Distinguished Professor of Law, and Raymond Pryke Professor of First Amendment Law, at University of California, Irvine School of Law. Before that he was a professor at Duke University from 2004-2008, and from 1983-2004 was a professor at the University of Southern California Law School.

He is the author of eleven books, including leading casebooks and treatises about constitutional law, criminal procedure, and federal jurisdiction. His most recent books are, We the People: A Progressive Reading of the Constitution for the Twenty-First Century (Picador Macmillan) published in November 2018, and two books published by Yale University Press in 2017, Closing the Courthouse Doors: How Your Constitutional Rights Became Unenforceable and Free Speech on Campus (with Howard Gillman). He frequently argues appellate cases, including in the United States Supreme Court.

In 2016, he was named a fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. In January 2017, National Jurist magazine again named Dean Chemerinsky as the most influential person in legal education in the United States.

BILL HYSLOP NOMINATED AS US ATTORNEY FOR EDWA

On May 13, 2019, President Trump nominated NAFUSA life member William D. Hyslop to be the United States Attorney for the Eastern District of Washington. He was confirmed by the United States Senate on June 27, 2019.


Hyslop is a Principal in the Spokane, Washington, office of Lukins & Annis PS, where his practice focuses on complex commercial and business litigation in the State and Federal courts. Hyslop previously served as the U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Washington from 1991 to 1993. Hyslop served as president of the Washington State Bar Association and Federal Bar Association for the Eastern District of Washington. He received his B.A. from Washington State University, his M.P.A. from the University of Washington, and his J.D. from the Gonzaga University School of Law.

Hyslop has received the Washington State Bar Association’s President’s Award, the Spokane County Bar Association’s Professionalism Award, and the Washington State Alumni Association’s Alumni Achievement Award.

Hyslop said, “I’m looking forward to continuing to support our justice system and working with the fine people at the U.S. Department of Justice.”

Vaira: What Are the Duties of the General Counsel to the Pa. Supreme Court?

NAFUSA member Peter Vaira has published an article in The Legal Intelligencer entitled: What Are the Duties of the General Counsel to the Pa. Supreme Court? Pennsylvania recently created a position of counsel to the court and Vaira examined similar practice in several states, including Texas, Missouri, Michigan and Rhode Island. His result is an interesting study of a practice not well known to the average practicing lawyer.

Peter Vaira

Click here to read the full article.

Dowd Elected President of NAFUSA Foundation

At the May 3, 2019, meeting of the Board of Directors of the NAFUSA Foundation, Ed Dowd was elected to serve as the president. Ed served as the United States Attorney for the Eastern District of Missouri (1993-1999) and the Deputy Special Counsel for the Waco Investigation with Senator John C. Danforth (1999-2000). He is also a past president of NAFUSA. He is currently a partner at Dowd Bennett in St. Louis.

Ed Dowd

The following were elected as officers and directors for 2019-2020: Ed Dowd, President, Ken Wainstein, Vice President, William Lutz, Secretary, Rich Rossman, Treasurer.

The following were elected as Directors for the 2019-2020: Mike McKay, Ed Dowd, Ken Wainstein, Hal Hardin, Terry Flynn, Paul Coggins, Donna Bucella, and Catherine Hanaway.

Mike McKay

The Board thanked and commended Mike McKay, who is stepping down after several years as the President of the NAFUSA Foundation and especially commended him for his leadership in establishing and growing the Wales Fund. Mike has raised $523,000 in pledges towards a reward fund in addition to the $1,000,000 offered by the Department of Justice for information leading to the arrest and conviction of the person or persons responsible for the murder of AUSA Thomas Crane Wales.

NAFUSA Board Meets in Naples

NAFUSA board at the home of Jay & Julie Stephens

The annual Spring NAFUSA board meeting was held in Naples, Florida, on April 6, 2019. President Terry Flynn announced that the annual conference will be held at the Westin St Francis in San Francisco on September 25-27, 2019, and will feature FBI Director (and NAFUSA life member) Chris Wray as the keynote speaker.

Flynn stated that the conference planning committee is working on the program, which will begin with an opening evening reception at the St Francis on Wednesday, September 25, sponsored by Guicepost Solutions. The Thursday and Friday morning CLEs will include a panel on artificial intelligence/technology with Tony West, general counsel & chief legal officer of Uber; a dialogue with EOUSA and the AGAC with James Crowell and Jessie Liu; a presentation on the United States Supreme Court by Dean Erwin Chemerinsky; a presentation by Professor Jennifer Eberhardt on “Unconscious Bias in Law Enforcement”; and an ethics presentation by NAFUSA member Chuck Rosenberg on “The Korematsu Story-Duty of Candor to the Court”.  Registration for the conference will open in June.

Ken Wainstein

With the resignation of NAFUSA Treasurer Don Washington, due to his having been sworn in as the Director of the U.S. Marshall Service, the board appointed Ken Wainstein to fill the treasurer vacancy. Wainstein served as the United States Attorney for the District of Columbia, 2004-2006, and as the first Assistant Attorney General for National Security, 2006-2008. During his illustrious career, he has also served as the Director of the Executive Office for U.S. Attorneys, General Counsel of the FBI, Chief of Staff of the FBI, and Assistant to the President for Homeland Security and Counterterrosim. He is currently a partner in the Washington office of Davis Polk & Wardell.

 

John Brownlee

The board also selected John Brownlee (WD Virginia 2001-2008) to fill the Wainstein vacancy on the board in the class of 2020. Brownlee is currently a partner at Holland & Knight, where he chairs the firm’s National White Collar Defense and Investigation Team and a member of the firm’s Directors Committee. He served on active duty in the U.S Army in the infantry and in the Judge Advocate General Corps, and is a graduate of the Army’s Airborne and Ranger programs. He recently represented former Virginia Governor Bob McDonnell during the investigation, trial and appeal and won a unanimous decision from the U.S. Supreme Court vacating the convictions.

Executive Director Rich Rossman reported that organization is financially sound, mainly thanks to the support of our sponsors. We would not be able to hold our annual conferences without our sponsors. The collection of dues is lagging, however. Deputy Director Lisa Rafferty stated that several members have failed to pay their dues by the February 28 deadline. Reminders have been sent.

President Elect Paul Coggins announced the 2020 conference will be held in New York City on September 30-October 2 at the New York Hilton.

The board enjoyed a social evening at the home of Jay and Julie Stephens (photo above) and a dinner on the beach (photo below).  As is our custom, NAFUSA board members paid their own travel and hotel expenses. A good time was had by all.

Board dinner on the beach at Naples

 

Paul Charlton Joins Dentons

Dentons, the world’s largest law firm, announced on April 8, 2019, that NAFUSA board member Paul Charlton had joined its Phoenix office as a partner in its Litigation and White Collar practices.

Charlton is known as a seasoned trial lawyer who successfully defended corporations and high-net -worth individuals who were the subject of state and federal investigations. A former career prosecutor, he ended his nearly 20 years of public service as Arizona’s United States Attorney. Charlton also works in Native American Law and successfully advocated for Native American tribes and tribal leaders on nationally reported leaders. He is sought-after and often-quoted media commentator on litigation in the news, and, with his wife, owns and operates a cattle ranch. Charlton earned his JD from the University of Arizona, where he was the note and comment editor for the Arizona Law Review, and his BA from there, as well.

Dentons’ Litigation and Dispute Resolution practice is comprised of more than 200 lawyers in the United States, focusing on complex disputes in federal and state courts across the country, as well as before regulatory agencies, administrative bodies and arbitration tribunals. Dentons’ Litigation group has consistently received top rankings in leading trade publications, including The Best Lawyers in America, The Legal 500 and Chambers USA. Law360 has named Dentons one of its “Top 50 Litigation Powerhouse Firms.” The Daily Report awarded Dentons “Insurance Litigation Department of the Year” in 2017. BTI Consulting named Dentons’ Litigation team to its “Fearsome Foursome” in 2017 and its “Fearsome Five” in 2018, crediting the litigators’ intense approach and fierce strategy on behalf of clients in the competitive legal market. BTI also named Dentons a “Powerhouse” in all eight litigation categories it measured.

Dentons is the world’s largest law firm, delivering quality and value to clients around the globe. Dentons is a leader on the Acritas Global Elite Brand Index, a BTI Client Service 30 Award winner and recognized by prominent business and legal publications for its innovations in client service, including founding Nextlaw Labs and the Nextlaw Global Referral Network. Dentons’ polycentric approach and world-class talent challenge the status quo to advance client interests in the communities in which we live and work. www.dentons.com

AG Barr Appoints Jessie Liu to Head AGAC

In early March, President Trump nominated Jessie Liu, the United States Attorney for the District of Columbia, to be the associate attorney general. But this week Liu withdrew from consideration for the No. 3 post at Main Justice and Attorney General William P. Barr issued the following statement: “Today, I am pleased to announce that I am appointing Jessie Liu as chairwoman of the Attorney General’s Advisory Committee of United States Attorneys (AGAC). Jessie Liu, an outstanding attorney with broad experience, is widely-respected, within the Department. She currently leads more than 300 prosecutors at our nation’s largest U.S. Attorney’s office. Jessie will be an integral part of our leadership at the Department. We will all benefit from her universally-regarded expertise and dedication to public service. I would also like to thank Richard Moore, U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of Alabama, for his outstanding tenure as chair of the AGAC, and his contributions to the management of the Department. He will remain a key advisor on the committee.”