On Wednesday, October 16, 2013, U.S. District Judge Denise Cote, SDNY, appointed NAFUSA life member Michael Bromwich to monitor Apple’s antitrust policies and procedures for two years. Judge Cote found Apple guilty of colluding with five of the six largest publishers in the U.S. in an e-book price-fixing scheme.
Bromwich was selected by President Obama in June 2010 to reform the regulation and oversight of offshore drilling in the wake of the DeepwaterHorizon accident and oil spill. He first served as the Director of the Bureau of Ocean Energy, Management Regulation and Enforcement (June 2010-September 2011), and then as Director of the Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement (October-November 2011). Bromwich served as the chief public spokesman for the Obama Administration’s reform of offshore drilling.
At the end of 2011, Bromwich left government and in 2012 joined Goodwin Proctor as a partner in its DC and New York offices, specializing in internal investigations and white-collar defense. He served as inspector general of the Department of Justice, 1994-1999. He also served as associate counsel in the Iran-Contra Office of Independent Counsel and as an assistant U.S. attorney in the Southern District of New York. He is a graduate of Harvard Law School.
During this year’s NAFUSA conference in Washington, all NAFUSA members were invited to attend a “Day at Justice”: an entire afternoon at Main Justice. The format was informal, with NAFUSA members leading a “dialogue” with Department leaders. NAFUSA President Jay Stephens led a discussion with DAG Jim Cole; Ken Wainstein with FBI Director Jim Comey; Joe Whitley with Associate AG Tony West; and incoming NAFUSA President Don Stern with EOUSA Director Marshall Jarrett, AGAC Chair Loretta Lynch and Associate Deputy AG David Margolis.
The event was hosted by EOUSA which did a great job of making NAFUSA members comfortable and welcome. At the end of the discussion, EOUSA invited the NAFUSA members to gather in the DOJ courtyard for a group photo, shown above.
Jay Stephens with DAG Jim Cole
Ken Wainstein with Director JIm Comey
Joe Whitley with Associate AG Tony West
Don Stern with Loretta Lynch, David Margolis and Marshall Jarrett
Roy C. (Joe) Hayes, who served as the United States Attorney for the Eastern District of Michigan, 1985-1989, died last Thursday, October 10, 2013, of pneumonia in Charlevoix, Michigan. Hayes also served in the Wayne County Prosecutor’s Office and as the Charlevoix County prosecuting attorney. When he retired as the U.S. Attorney, Hayes moved back to Charlevoix in private practice until he retired in 2000. He is survived by his wife and two children who are also lawyers: Amy McNamara and Roy (Joe) Hayes III, and six grandchildren.
As is the custom of NAFUSA, arrangements will be made (as soon as the government is up and running once again) to have a flag flown over Main Justice and presented to the Hayes family as a remembrance of the esteem in which he was held by his former colleagues.
As the DC conference came to a close last Saturday evening, newly installed President Don Stern told the audience that “he could not promise to beat the effort” of outgoing President Jay Stephens, but he promised to “match it” next year in Boston. In the photo above, Stern is handing Stephens a parting gift for his year of outstanding service: a 150 year old antique spy glass.
Stephens led a conference planning committee consisting of Kent Alexander, Jeff Taylor, Sharon Zealey, Ken Wainstein and Rich Rossman, who put together a well received program, capped by the keyote address by Pete Williams, of NBC, shown above. Other highlights included five outsanding panels: “Navigating the False Claims Act”, “National Security and Surveillance”, “Counter-terrorism, National Security and the Law”, “Criminal Disclosure Ethics” and “Supreme Court Issues.” In addition, all NAFUSA members were invited to spend Friday afternoon at the Department of Justice to meet with DAG Jim Cole, FBI Director Jim Comey, Associate AG Tony West and the leaders of the US Attorney community: Marshall Jarrett, Loretta Lynch and David Margolis. [It was hoped that we would be able to post the photo that DOJ took of the NAFUSA members assembled in the courtyard of Main Justice, but the shutdown has made the photographer unavailable.] A full list of the conference speakers can be found on the NAFUSA website under the link for “conferences.”
Among the highlights of the conference were the Friday night “reunion” dinners. Bill Lutz was able to obtain an invitation from Justice Alito, who served as the United States Attorney for the District of New Jersey, to have the Reagan-Bush I US Attorneys dine at the Supreme Court. The Justice is shown above with Jay and Julie Stephens. Below is a photo of the entire US Attorney group with the Justice.
The Carter alums also held an alumni dinner and invited former Attorney Genral Ben Civiletti and his wife. In addition, Ninth Circuit Judge Mike Hawkins, who flew in just for Friday night, attended, as did Marti Robinson, wife of the late Jim Robinson. The Carter group graciously invited some of the more senior members who, although not Carter US Attorneys, had no other class reunions to attend. The Carter group and friends are shown below.
Donald K. Stern, shown below, was elected to serve as NAFUSA president until the next conference in Boston on Columbus Day weekend, October 9-11, 2014, at the Fairmont Copley Plaza. The new slate of officers elected were: President Elect Matt Orwig, Vice President Greg Vega, Secretary Bart Daniel, Treasurer Doug Jones and Immediate Past President Jay Stephens.
The board members elected to serve a three year term were Alice Martin, Catherine Hanaway, Kevin O’Connor, Hal Hardin and Bob Cleary. Zach Carter was elected to fill a vacancy in the class of 2014 caused by Doug Jones moving into the chairs.
In addition to the 2014 conference being held in Boston, the 2015 conference will be in Scotsdale and the 2016 conference in San Diego.
NAFUSA retained a professional photographer to depict the events of the conference, and many photos will soon be posted on the website along with photos from past conferences.
Finally a word about our sponsors. NAFUSA raised $97,500 in sponsor contribuitons this year, by far a new record. A full list can be found on this page. The conference would not have been possible without this support. Our sponsors deserve a “shout out” as well as our business!
NAFUSA members Robert Morgenthau and Robert Fiske have been chosen by the New York Law Journal to be among the 16 outstanding lawyers to receive its Lifetime Achievment Award to be awarded on November 4, 2013. The 16 men and women chosen were deemed to represent those “who over the course of their varied careers have made a profound impact on the law and New York’s legal community.”
Morgenthau, shown left, who was honored by NAFUSA in 2010 upon his retirement as the Manhattan district attorney from 1975 to 2009, served as the United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, 1961-1970. He is the only active member of NAFUSA from the Kennedy Administration. In a letter to Morgenthau dated September 24, 2013, Robert C. Post, Dean of the Yale Law School, said:
…To say that you have had a profound impact on the law and on the legal community on New York is to understate the case. You have been the spine of law enforcement in the nation’s greatest city. You have pursued justice and the rule of law without regard to the affluence or power of your targets, whether they were mafia dons, state senators, or local slumlords. You have continuously transformed the processes of law enforcement to meet modern challenges establishing sex-crime and consumer-affairs units, tackling internal police corruption, and adding bilingual staff so that more New Yorkers could have access to justice. You have been a mentor to generations of lawyers, many of whom have themselves become judges. Throughout you have been a model of probity, honor, and effectiveness. You have exemplified the law at its best, and for this we all deeply in your debt….
Robert B. Fiske Jr., shown left, served as the United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York from 1976-1980, and served as the chair of the AGAC. He was also the first Whitewater Independent Counsel, appointed by Attorney General Janet Reno. Fiske has been recognized as a leading lawyer in several legal industry publications. He was named “New York Bet-the Company Litigator of the Year for both 2009 and 2010)” by Best Lawyers. He is presently a senior counsel at Davis, Polk & Wardwell.
On August 12, 2013, Bone McAllester Norton PLLC, announced that Ed Yarbrough, shown left, has joined the firm, creating a new division of Criminal Defense and Government Investigations.
“Our new division has been created to serve individuals and corporate clients facing criminal charges, investigations by federal and state authorities, regulatory enforcement actions, internal investigations and compliance audits,” said Charles W. Bone, founder and chairman of Bone McAllester Norton.
Yarbrough is a former United States Attorney for the Middle District of Tennessee appointed by President George W. Bush. He has more than 40 years of experience. He practices criminal defense and government investigations, personal injury law and litigation and dispute resolution.
Yarbrough has tried more than 150 jury cases to verdict, including more than 40 homicide cases. He has served as both prosecuting attorney and defense attorney in matters involving white collar crime, wrongful death, personal injury, public corruption and a variety of criminal charges at the state and federal levels.
A former infantry lieutenant in the United Sates Army, Yarbrough’s desire to be on the front lines has served him well in his civil and criminal law practice. He has been recognized on numerous listings among the nation’s top lawyers, like SuperLawyers and Best Lawyers in America. He has been elected a fellow of the American College of Trial Lawyers and received the first Criminal Justice Section Service Award from the Tennessee Bar Association in 2011.
Bone McAllester Norton PLLC is a full-service law firm with 35 attorneys and offices in Nashville and Sumner County, Tennessee. Its attorneys focus on 16 distinct practice areas, providing the wide range of legal services ordinarily required by established and growing businesses and entrepreneurs. Among their practices, they represent clients in business and capital formation, mergers and acquisitions, securities matters, commercial lending and creditors’ rights, commercial real estate and development, governmental regulatory matters, commercial litigation and dispute resolution, intellectual property strategy and enforcement, entertainment and environmental matters. For more information, visit www.bonelaw.com.
Pete Williams will give the keynote address on September 28, 2013 at the JW Marriott Washington. Williams is an NBC News correspondent based in Washington. He has been covering the Justice Department and the U.S. Supreme Court since March 1993.
Prior to joining NBC, Williams served as a press official on Capitol Hill for many years. In 1986 he joined the Washington staff of then Congressman Dick Cheney as press secretary and a legislative assistant. In 1989, when Cheney was named assistant secretary of defense, Williams was appointed assistant secretary of defense for public affairs. While in that position, Williams was named Government Communicator of the Year in 1991 by the National Association of Government Communicators.
A native of Casper, Wyoming and a graduate of Stanford University, Williams was a reporter and news director at KTWO-TV and Radio in Casper from 1974 to 1985. Working with the Radio-Television News Directors Association, for which he served as a member of its board of directors, he successfully lobbied the Wyoming Supreme Court to permit broadcast coverage of its proceedings and twice sued Wyoming judges over pre-trial exclusion of reporters from the courtroom. For these efforts, he received a First Amendment Award from the Society of Professional Journalists.
Williams will also moderate the panel of the Supreme Court to be held on Saturday morning. The panel will feature NAFUSA member Ted Olson and prominent Supreme Court practioneer, Carter Phillips.
Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher LLP announced on September 13, 2013, that NAFUSA member Charles J. Stevens has returned to the firm in its San Francisco office as a partner. Stevens, a former Gibson Dunn partner, joins more than 40 former Justice Department lawyers at the firm, including NAFUSA members Ted Olson and Debra Yang.
Stevens will practice in the areas of government and internal investigations, compliance reviews, and white collar defense with focus on antitrust, health care fraud, False Claims Act (FCA), Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) and procurement fraud, as well as related complex civil litigation alleging fraud, unfair competition and unfair business practices.
Stevens began his career as an associate with Gibson Dunn’s Los Angeles office. He then served as an Assistant U.S. Attorney in the Public Corruption and Government Contract Fraud Unit in the Central District of California in Los Angeles. He returned to Gibson Dunn and became a partner in 1990.
In 1993, he was appointed U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of California by President Clinton. Then 35 years old, he was one of the youngest U.S. Attorneys in the country. In this role, he oversaw the district’s two offices and 150 employees and created and supervised the implementation of multiple initiatives, including affirmative civil enforcement of the False Claims Act, civil rights, health care fraud and political corruption. During his tenure, he was appointed by Attorney General Janet Reno to the Attorney General’s Advisory Committee.
Following his service as U.S. Attorney, Stevens and NAFUSA member George O’Connell founded the boutique litigation firm, Stevens, O’Connell & Jacobs LLP, which focused on government and internal investigations. He spend the last year as a mediator with JAMS, one of NAFUSA’s 2013 sponsors, focusing on matters involving government claims, such as the False Claims Act and teaching a mediation course U.C. Davis Law School. He has also taught classes in government investigations and professional responsibility. He is a 1982 graduate of University of California, Berkeley, School of Law, where he served as Senior Note and Comment Editor of the California Law Review.
Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher LLP is a leading international law firm. Consistently ranking among the world’s top law firms in industry in industry surveys and major publications with 1,100 lawyers and 18 offices.
NAFUSA member Catherine Hanaway has joined, effective September 3, 2013, the St. Louis office of Husch Blackwell. She will lead the firm’s Government Compliance and Investigations team. Hanaway served as the first female Speaker of the Missouri House of Representatives (2003-2005) and as U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Missouri (2005-2009) before returning to private practice with the Ashcroft Law Firm. She earned her J.D. from The Columbus School of Law at The Catholic University of America (1990) and began her legal career at the law firm Peper, Martin, Jensen, Maichel & Hetlage, a predecessor firm to Husch Blackwell.
On how she feels about her move, Hanaway said,
When I left Peper Martin 20 years ago, the firm had about 100 attorneys in four offices. Now, Husch Blackwell has offices in 16 U.S. cities, including three newly added locations in Texas, and an exciting strategic direction and industry focus. The firm’s focus on clients and deep immersion into their industries, their worlds and their issues is compelling, and I’m thrilled to join the team at this exciting time.
Husch Blackwell LLP is a full-service litigation and business law firm with attorneys in locations across the United States and in London, serving clients with domestic and international operations. They represent national and global leaders in major industries that include agribusiness, food and beverage, energy, financial services, healthcare, pharmaceuticals, real estate, construction, manufacturing, technology and transportation.
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