REGISTRATION IS NOW OPEN FOR THE NAFUSA 2025 CONFERENCE

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NAFUSA 2025 conference registration is now open. The NAFUSA opening reception, sponsored again this year by our generous sponsor Guidepost, will be Wednesday October 8 at 6:00 p.m. It will be hosted by King & Spalding LLP on the penthouse floor of their Washington, D.C. offices located at 1700 Pennsylvania Ave, N.W., a short walk from the conference hotel.  Please click the link below to register and book a hotel room in the NAFUSA block at the Willard hotel.

If you have any issues booking your room or want to extend your stay please contact Lisa Rafferty.

CLICK HERE TO REGISTER FOR THE CONFERENCE AND BOOK HOTEL ROOM

2025 NAFUSA CONFERENCE PROGRAM

Flag presentation for Mike Cody family

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NAFUSA member and former board member, Ed Stanton, and another former U.S. Attorney from the western district of Tennessee, Larry Laurenzi, presented a flag flown over the Department of Justice in honor of former U.S. Attorney Mike Cody to his widow Suzanna (“Suzi”) Cody on June 6, 2025, at a memorial service held in Memphis.

New NAFUSA Members in July

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NAFUSA welcomed five new members in July. They are all former U.S. Attorneys who served in the Biden administration. Welcome!

Damien Diggs was sworn in as U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Texas in May 2023 and served there until his resignation in January 2025. A graduate of Towson University and American University, where he received his JD, Damien served as an Assistant U.S. Attorney (AUSA) in Washington D.C. from 2012 to 2018 and then joined the Northern District of Texas as an AUSA in 2018. He is currently a partner at Winston & Strawn in its Dallas office.

Jason Frierson served as the U.S. Attorney for the District of Nevada from May 2022 until January 2025. Prior to his nomination as U.S. Attorney, he served in legal roles in the public and private sector. He was elected to the Nevada State Assembly in 2010 and served there from 2011 to 2014. He was later reelected to a term from 2016 to 2022 and selected in a bipartisan and unanimous vote to serve as speaker from 2017 to 2022. He joined Cornerstone as Principal and Counsel in February 2025.

Brandon B. Brown served as U.S. Attorney for the Western District of Louisiana (WDLA)
from 2021 to January 2025. While U.S. Attorney he served on the Attorney General’s
Advisory Committee. Following graduation from the Southern University Law Center in
2007 he joined the Ouachita Parish District’s Attorney’s Office. From 2012 until his
appointment as U.S. attorney, he served as an AUSA in the WDLA. He joined McGlinchey as a partner in its Baron Rouge office in April 2025.

Jacqueline Romero served as the United States Attorney for the Eastern District of
Pennsylvania (EDPA) from 2022 to 2025. The granddaughter of Spanish immigrants, she joined the U.S. Department of Justice as a trial attorney in 1998, leaving that position in 2000 to serve as senior counsel for the U.S. Mint. She joined the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the EDPA as an AUSA in 2006 and served in that capacity until her unanimous confirmation as U.S. Attorney. She joined BakerHostetler’s Philadelphia office in July as a partner in the firm’s Litigation Practice Group.

Tara McGrath served as the U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of California (SDCA) from October 2023 to February 2025. She graduated from the University of Michigan Law School in 2001 and served as a judge advocate while on active duty in the United States Marine Corp from 2001 to 2005. She served as an AUSA in the SDCA from 2008 to 2019, including 2015 to 2018 as a trial attorney in the Office of Enforcement Operations of the DOJ’s Criminal Division. She joined the litigation practice at Perkins Cole as a partner in July.

2025 Annual Conference Updates

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Registration for NAFUSA’s 2025 Annual Conference will open Monday, August 4! Watch your emails for registration information including a link to register for the conference and a link to reserve a room in the conference hotel – The Willard – to take advantage of NAFUSA’s lower block rate. It will also include information about signing up to play golf on Wednesday morning, October 8 at the Army Navy Country Club across the river in Arlington. Registration information, including links, will also be available on the NAFUSA website, NAFUSA.org, early next week.

There are 28 slots available for golf on Wednesday morning. The fee charged includes transportation to and from the course. Golf at the Army Navy Country Club is exclusive to members and their guests so this is a very special opportunity (thanks to NAFUSA president, Donna Bucella). If you’re interested, I suggest that you register for the conference as soon as possible and sign up for golf at the same time you do since spots are limited.

Dates and times to add to your calendars:

The NAFUSA opening reception, sponsored again this year by our generous sponsor Guidepost, will be Wednesday at 6:00 p.m. It will be hosted by King & Spalding LLP on the penthouse floor of their Washington, D.C. offices located at 1700 Pennsylvania Ave, N.W., a short walk from the conference hotel.

Class dinners will be Thursday, October 9 at 6:00 at restaurants tbd. Watch your newsletter for names of class members organizing the dinners. If you’re interested in being part of the planning, let us know.

September 15 is the last day to reserve a room at the Willard at the special block rate. If you want to extend your stay before or after the conference dates, you will be able to do so at the negotiated rate if rooms are available.

We look forward to seeing you and your spouse/guest at the conference! Please contact me or Deputy Director Lisa Rafferty if you have questions or difficulty registering.

Bobby Christine Named U.S. Judge Advocate General

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NAFUSA member Bobby Christine has been named the Judge Advocate General of the
United States Army. As such, he is the senior uniformed lawyer in the United States Army serving as a legal advisor to the military branch and representing its personnel in legal matters. He is a Major General in the Army National Guard and was called up to military service in February of this year, maintaining his role as a district attorney for Columbia Judicial Circuit, Evans, Georgia. President Trump nominated Christine for the U.S. Judge Advocate General post on June 19 and, upon confirmation by the Senate, he assumed the office on July 1, 2025.

Christine served as the United States Attorney for the Sorthern District of Georgia from
November 2017 to February 2021. He was previously an Assistant District Attorney in
Augusta, Georgia; a former magistrate judge in Columbia County, Georgia; and partner at the law firm of Christine and Evans, LLC. On February 1, 2024, Christine was promoted to the two-star rank of major general, making him the first reserve component officer in the JAG Corps to achieve this rank since the Corps’ inception in 1775.

New NAFUSA Members in June

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NAFUSA welcomed two new lifetime members in June 2025. E. Martin Estrada served as
the U.S. attorney for the Central District of California (CDCA) from September 2022 to
January 2025. He received his law degree from Stanford Law School. After clerking for a
U.S. District Court Judge and then for a 9th Circuit appellate judge, he served as an
Assistant U.S. Attorney in the CDCA from 2007 to 2014 before leaving for private practice.
After leaving the U.S. Attorney post in 2025, he returned to private practice as a partner with Munger Tolles & Olson in their Los Angeles office handling complex litigation.

Vanessa Waldref served as the United States Attorney for the Eastern District of
Washington (EDWA) from 2021 to 2025, the first woman to hold this position. She is a
native of Spokane, Washington and received her Bachelor of Arts degree and JD from
Georgetown University. Following several years in private practice, she served as an
Assistant U.S. Attorney from 2013 to 2020 in EDWA and as a trial attorney in the DOJ’s
Environment and Natural Resources Division. While U.S. Attorney she chaired the AGAC’s
subcommittee on Environmental Justice & Environmental Issues. She is currently a partner
and founding member of Singleton Schreiber’s Washington office.

Additionally, Zachary Myers, former U.S Attorney for the Southern District of Indiana, joined
NAFUSA in June. Prior to being nominated by President Biden for the U.S. Attorney post in 2021, he served in that office and in the District of Maryland as an Assistant U.S. Attorney for more than a decade. During his tenure as U.S. Attorney, he served as chair of the AGAC’s Subcommittee on Cyber Crime and Intellectual Property. Myers, who earned his law degree from Georgetown University, was in private practice at Baker & Daniels in
Indianapolis before starting his career with the Department of Justice. In 2025 he joined
McCarter & English in Indianapolis as partner.

Natalie K. Wight, former U.S. Attorney for the District of Oregon, also joined NAFUSA in
June. She served there as U.S. Attorney from September 2022 until February 2025. Earlier
in her career she was an attorney with the Federal Bureau of Prisons for five years before
joining the Northern District of California U.S. Attorney’s Office as an AUSA in 2008. In 2012 she joined the U.S. Attorney’s office in Oregon where she served until being named U.S. Attorney there. She is currently the Executive Director of the Northwest Regional Re-entry Center in Portland, Oregon.

Bradford Award Winners for 2025

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NAFUSA will present the 2025 Bradford Award to this year’s winners at the annual
conference in Washington, DC on October 10. The award, named in honor of former U.S.
Attorney J. Michael Bradford, recognizes an Assistant U.S. Attorney for outstanding
performance in handling an investigation and prosecution, or series of prosecutions, that
have had a significant impact and merit special recognition. NAFUSA annually solicits
nominations from current U.S. Attorneys of AUSAs in their offices whose work merits this
recognition.

This year, a committee from NAFUSA’s Board of Directors selected two AUSAs from the
many impressive nominations submitted. The winners, Margaret (“Maggie”) Lynaugh and
Brandon Thompson, are from the U.S. Attorneys Office for the Southern District of New
York (SDNY). Maggie and Brandon were nominated for the award in large measure for their
joint prosecution of five individuals who used a Bronx daycare as a front for their fentanyl
trafficking business, resulting in the poisoning of four children under two years old and,
tragically, one infant’s death. These outstanding AUSAs have also brought significant
prosecutions against fake online pharmacy schemes with victims in all 50 states and a
groundbreaking case with the Food and Drug Administration, including a first-of-its-kind
prosecution of a defendant selling counterfeit Ozempic medication through social media
platforms.

Maggie Lynaugh has been an AUSA in the SDNY since 2021. During that time, she has
served in the office’s general crimes, narcotics, illicit finance and money laundering and
securities units. Prior to joining the Department of Justice, she clerked for U.S. District
Court Judge Barbara S. Jones in the SDNY. She also worked in private practice for over ten years, primarily focusing on white collar criminal defense and civil litigation. Maggie is a
graduate of Stanford University and Harvard Law School

Brandon Thompson joined the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the SDNY in 2022 and has served in the office’s general crimes, narcotics, complex frauds and cybercrime units. Prior to joining the DOJ, he clerked for First Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals Judge Jeffrey R. Howard and also for U.S. District Court Judge Gregory H. Woods III in the SDNY. Brandon also worked in private practice for two years focusing primarily on white collar criminal defense and civil litigation. Brandon is a graduate of Columbia University and Yale Law School

Congratulations and honorable mention to the following outstanding nominees:

Chauncey Bratt

Middle District of Florida

 

Andrew Grogan

Northern District of Florida

 

Kaitlin Teresa Farrell

Eastern District of New York

 

Robert W. Schumacher

Eastern District of New York

 

Danielle Bateman

Eastern District of Pennsylvania

 

Elizabeth C. Warren

District of South Carolina

 

Thomas J. Hanlon

Eastern District of Washington

 

2025 Conference Preview

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In addition to having the beautiful and historic Willard Hotel in Washington DC as our
conference venue for 2025, the program promises to be both interesting and relevant for
conference attendees. Once again, we are honored to have incredibly impressive and
experienced speakers as our conference guests.

As a few examples, included in this year’s conference will be a panel of experts led by
NAFUSA board member Scott Schools, Chief Compliance Officer at OpenAI. The panel,
entitled “Every Conference Has to Have an AI Session -This is it!” will discuss AI policy,
copyright issues and AI in the legal profession. The panel will Include Ben Rossen,
Associate General Counsel and Head of Policy Legal at OpenAI; Danny Tobey, Chair of DLA Piper’s AI and Data Analytics Practice, a successful software founder, and medical doctor; and Sy Damie, Partner and Vice Chair of Artificial Intelligence Practice, Latham & Watkins.

This year’s Supreme Court Review will be a panel including Jessica Amunson and Adam
Unikowsky, both Harvard Law graduates and partners at Jenner and Block, LLP in its
Appellate & Supreme Court Practice, which Ms. Amunson co-chairs. She was featured in a Harvard Law Today article in 2023 titled, “What’s it like to argue in front of the Supreme
Court?”Mr. Unikowsky was a judicial law clerk to Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia.

Conner Eldridge, NAFUSA board member, founding partner of Eldridge Brooks, and
Chairman & CEO, Riverside Bank, Little Rock, Arkansas, will moderate a timely (and most
likely very lively) panel discussion on the legal and practical impact of changes to the rules
governing college sports rules, “Show Me the Money: The Current and Ever-changing
Landscape of Collegiate Athletics, the NIL and Thoughts on Justice in College Sports.”

Keep watching the NAFUSA newsletter and website for more information. Hope to see you at The Willard in October!

Death of Judge Patrick NeMoyer

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Former NAFUSA member Patrick H. NeMoyer passed away on May 17, 2025, at his home in Orchard Park, New York, after a long illness. He was 72. During his long legal career, he served as Erie County Attorney, and a state appeals judge with the 4th Appellate Division in Rochester, New York, in addition to serving as the U.S. Attorney for the Western District of New York. He was nominated by President Clinton in 1993 and, after Senate confirmation, went on to serve as U.S. Attorney until 1997, when he stepped down to run for a seat on the State Supreme Court (Appellate Court). He presided over a wide range of cases there for the next 26 years. He was named Western New York Judge of the Year by the State Trial Lawyers Association in 2006.

Those who knew Judge NeMoyer remarked on his incredible intellect. He was a member of the Mensa Society. His wife of 47 years, Elyse, commented, “He loved the law. He was a very cerebral guy who enjoyed the intellectual challenges presented by the law.” She went on to say that he even enjoyed the boring parts of the law. He also loved politics and was active in Democratic Party politics before he became a judge. While U.S. Attorney, Judge NeMoyer was proud of the role his office and the Buffalo FBI office played in the investigation that led to the arrest and conviction of Timothy McVeigh, a western New York native, for his role in the 1995 Oklahoma City terrorist bombing. NAFUSA member Denise O’Donnell, who was First Assistant under NeMoyer and who later succeeded him when he stepped down to become a judge, remembers Judge NeMoyer as “…an extremely kind and decent man that you could go to for good, solid advice.”

In addition to his wife, Judge NeMoyer leaves four daughters, Erin, Caitlin, Amanda and
Rachel and four grandchildren. A flag was flown over the Department of Justice in his
honor.