Donna Bucella

NAFUSA Sponsor Guidepost Solutions LLC announced on December 1, 2015 that NAFUSA member Donna A. Bucella, a former U.S. Attorney who served in several top government posts, has joined Guidepost Solutions as president of its compliance business in the company’s Washington, D.C. office.

“Bringing Donna on our team reflects our strong commitment to help companies strengthen and streamline their processes for addressing compliance, ethics and risk management,” stated Chief Executive Officer of Guidepost Solutions, Julie Myers Wood. “Her strong history of leadership and experience from the business and public sectors will greatly benefit our clients and complement our very talented team of compliance and investigative professionals.” Wood, who served as head of ICE in the Bush administration, was a participant on the panel on immigration at NAFUSA’s Atlanta conference in 2012. Wood is married to NAFUSA member John Frederick Wood (ED Missouri, 2007-2009).

In 2013, Bucella joined Education Management Corporation as senior vice president, risk and compliance, and chief compliance officer to create an independent compliance department; develop employee ethics and compliance training; and improve and expand its corporate compliance and internal investigations program. She practiced law with Foley & Lardner LLP and Steel, Hector and Davis LLP in the areas of complex business litigation, white collar defense, internal corporate investigations, and compliance.  Her private sector experience also includes serving as senior vice president at Perot Systems Government Services, and as senior vice president at Bank of America.

Previously, Bucella was the U.S. Attorney for the Middle District of Florida.  She also served as Assistant U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of Florida, Director of the Office of Legal Education for the U.S. Department of Justice, and Director of the Executive Office for the United States Attorneys.  Bucella’s additional government experience includes serving as Assistant Commissioner of U.S. Customs and Border Protection, Office of Intelligence and Investigative Liaison; being selected by the President of the United States and Director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation to become the first Director of the Terrorist Screening Center which she created from inception and led it to full operational capacity as it exists today; and joining the U.S. Transportation Security Administration, after 9/11, as the first Southeast Area Director responsible for the operations of 80 federalized airports. She retired at the rank of Colonel from the U.S. Army Reserves.

She currently serves as senior advisor for the Risk Assistance Network +Exchange (RANE) and is a member of various organizations including the Overseas Security Advisory Council (OSAC), Bureau of Diplomatic Security for the U.S. Department of State; Infragard; Stetson University College of Law Advisory Board for National Clearinghouse for Science, Technology and the Law; and the American Bar Association. For several of these organizations she has served in an advisory capacity or as a member of its Board of Directors.

Throughout her career, Bucella has been the recipient of numerous awards, decorations, and military medals including the Legion of Merit and the United States Attorney General’s Exceptional Service Award, the highest award given by the Attorney General.  She is a frequent speaker and instructor on topics related to investigations, compliance, intelligence and terrorism.  Bucella received a Juris Doctor from the University of Miami School of Law.

Guidepost Solutions (www.guidepostsolutions.com) is a global leader in investigations; due diligence; cyber and technology security consulting; immigration and cross-border consulting; and monitoring and compliance solutions.  Its professional team includes former federal and state prosecutors and law enforcement officials and leaders in the security, investigations, intelligence, and public safety communities. Guidepost Solutions is headquartered in New York and maintains offices and facilities across the globe including Chicago; Dallas; Honolulu; London; Los Angeles; Oakland; Palm Beach; Sacramento; San Francisco; Seattle; Singapore and Washington, D.C.

Nick Klinefeldt

Faegre Baker Daniels announced on November 18, 2015, that former United States Attorney Nicholas Klinefeldt has joined the firm as a partner in its Des Moines office. He is also the newest member of NAFUSA.

As a member of FaegreBD’s White Collar Defense and Investigations Practice, Klinefeldt will focus on representing businesses and individuals in government investigations, conducting internal investigations and counseling clients on compliance and regulatory issues.

From 2009 through November 2015, Klinefeldt served as the presidentially appointed U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of Iowa. He also co-chaired the Attorney General Advisory Subcommittee on Criminal Practice and served as a member of the Attorney General Advisory Subcommittee on White Collar Crime.

“Nick’s sophisticated investigatory and trial experience significantly enhances our ability to effectively serve and represent clients in complex, high-stakes legal matters around the country and throughout the world,” said J.P. Hanlon, co-chair of FaegreBD’s White Collar Defense and Investigations Practice. “His experience as an appointed U.S. Attorney and member of the Attorney General Advisory Committee will bring an incredibly deep and truly unique perspective to sensitive investigations and compliance matters. We are thrilled to have Nick join us and know he will be quickly become a critically important part of our national white collar defense and investigations practice.”

Before his service as the U.S. Attorney, Klinefeldt was in private practice with firms in Boston and Des Moines where he represented clients in federal criminal investigations and complex civil litigation. Klinefeldt began his career as a law clerk for the Hon. Robert W. Pratt, U.S. District Judge for the Southern District of Iowa, and the Hon. Christopher J. Armstrong, Chief Justice of the Massachusetts Court of Appeals. Klinefeldt received his law degree, with distinction, from the University of Iowa and his undergraduate degree, with honors, from the University of Iowa.

Jeff Taylor

General Motors Co. announced on October 20, 2015, that NAFUSA member and former member of NAFUSA’s board Jeffrey A. Taylor is joining the company effective November 1 as Deputy General Counsel for Federal Oversight. He will report to Craig Gladden, executive vice president and general counsel.

Taylor, 50, has most recently served as vice president and general counsel of Tewksbury, Mass.-based Raytheon Integrated Defense Systems. Before that, he led a team of more than 300 professionals as chief executive of Ernst & Young’s Fraud Investigation and Dispute Services practice in the Americas.

He served in the United States Department of Justice for 15 years as an assistant U.S. attorney, senior advisor to Attorneys General John D. Ashcroft and Alberto R. Gonzales, and as the U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia from 2006 to 2009.

Among Taylor’s duties, he will work with the federal monitor who will be appointed as part of the Deferred Prosecution Agreement GM has entered into with the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York. The monitor will review and assess the company’s policies and procedures in certain discrete areas relating to safety issues and recalls.

“Jeff is a highly accomplished attorney who has managed extremely complex legal issues and his appointment demonstrates how seriously we take our commitment to the federal government and our customers to build the best safety organization in the industry,” Glidden said.

Taylor earned his juris doctor degree from Harvard Law School. He earned a bachelor’s degree in history from Stanford University.

General Motors Co. (NYSE:GM, TSX: GMM) and its partners produce vehicles in 30 countries, and the company has leadership positions in the world’s largest and fastest-growing automotive markets. GM, its subsidiaries and joint venture entities sell vehicles under the Chevrolet, Cadillac, Baojun, Buick, GMC, Holden, Jiefang, Opel, Vauxhall and Wuling brands. More information on the company and its subsidiaries, including OnStar, a global leader in vehicle safety, security and information services, can be found at http://www.gm.com.

Don Davis

NAFUSA’s newest member, Don Davis, has joined the Grand Rapids/Fremont firm of Springstead, Bartish & Borgula, P.L.L.C, as of counsel to the Firm. The firm is a small criminal defense firm consisting of two former FBI special agents, an Army JAG officer, a former assistant U.S. attorney (and 2015 NAFUSA Exceptional Service Award recipient) and Davis, who served as the United States Attorney for the Western District of Michigan from 2008-2012. See www.springsteadbartish.com.

Davis also served as an assistant U.S. attorney in the WD of Michigan, 1975-2008 and 2012-2013. He also served in the United States Marine Corps. He is a graduate of Western Michigan University, B.A., Magna Cum Laude and the University of Michigan Law School.

Larry Thompson

In this morning’s New York Times, NAFUSA member Larry Thompson (ND Georgia, 1982-1986 and DAG 2001-2003), pubished an OpEd entitled How America Tolerates Racism in Jury Selection. The Supreme Court is hearing oral arguments this morning in Foster v. Chatman, “a case that challenges the all-too-common practice by which prosecutors deliberately exclude African-Americans from criminal juries.”

The 1986 case of Batson v. Kentucky was thought to have outlawed this practice, but Thompson argues that prosecutors routinely ignore that decision. Timothy Foster was convicted and sentenced to death by an all-white jury in Georgia 30 years ago.

Thompson argues,

In at least six different ways, the prosecutors singled out eligible black jurors: Notes from the jury selection list show they marked their names with a “B” and highlighted them in green on four separate copies; circled the word “black” on their juror questionnaires; noted several as “B #1,” “B #2”; ranked potential black jurors against one another “in case it comes down to having to pick one of the black jurors”; and wrote “Definite NOs” on the list of priority strikes, which had all four possible black jurors.

Although the prosecution has never admitted that race played a role in selecting a jury for Mr. Foster’s trial, some of its “race-neutral” reasons for strikes were inaccurate and inconsistent.

For example, prosecutors struck a black juror for being a social worker — but she was a teacher’s aide. Meanwhile, prosecutors accepted every white teacher and teacher’s aide in the jury pool.

When the prosecutors asked a white juror and a black juror whether the defendant’s age, which was close to that of their children, would be a factor in the sentence, the black juror said “none whatsoever” but was struck based on his son’s age. The white juror answered “probably so” and was accepted.

Along with other former prosecutors, I joined a friend-of-the-court brief in support of Mr. Foster. We recognize, and refuse to condone, the blatant unconstitutionality of the prosecutorial misconduct in this case. Moreover, my own experience suggests that discrimination in jury selection is indeed a national problem, despite over a century of attempted legislative and judicial remedies.

The Georgia courts have all ruled in the state’s favor. But the jury selection notes, discovered by Foster’s attorneys through Georgia’s open-records law, casts new light on the practice.