This year’s NAFUSA conference will be held at the JW Marriott in Washington, DC, September 26-28, 2013. Click on the “Conferences” link above for more information and for a list of speakers and their bios and a list of this year’s sponsors.
NAFUSA had a block of rooms available at the JW Marriott at a special conference rate or $264 a night. The conference rate, however, was only available until September 9, 2013. You can, however, call the hotel to check on availability.
NAFUSA member Donald J. DeGabrielle, former United States Attorney for the Southern District of Texas, has joined Bracewell & Giuliani in its Houston office as a partner in its white collar defense, internal investigations and regulatory enforcement practice. In addition to serving as the U.S. Attorney, DeGabrielle has served as a special agent with the FBI and an assistant U.S. attorney.
“The judgment one develops and exercises as U.S. Attorney is unparalleled. It gives Don the ability to advise clients with insight that very few lawyers possess,” added Mayor Rudolph W. Giuliani, the firm’s name partner and a lifetime member of NAFUSA.
During his time with the U.S. Attorney’s Office, DeGabrielle led the Criminal Division within the district and held an assignment with the Public Integrity Unit, where he focused on trials related to public corruption, white collar crime, environmental crimes and bank fraud, trying over 50 criminal jury trials. He also spent a year as the resident legal adviser to the South African National Directorate of Public Prosecutions, serving as a consultant and adviser for rule of law and criminal justice development.
Before his tenure in the Southern District of Texas, DeGabrielle was an assistant district attorney in New Orleans, where he conducted more than 150 jury trials. He is also a former FBI special agent in New York and New Orleans.
Bracewell & Giuliani LLP is an international law firm with 470 lawyers in Texas, New York, Washington, D.C., Connecticut, Seattle, Dubai and London, serving Fortune 500 companies, major financial institutions, leading private investment funds, governmental entities and individuals concentrated in the energy, technology and financial services sectors worldwide.
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NAFUSA members from the Reagan and Bush I administrations attending this year’s NAFUSA conference in Washington will gather on Friday evening, September 27, for a reunion dinner at the United States Supreme Court. This very special event was put together by Past President Bill Lutz, who made the arrangements through the office of Justice Alito, shown right, who has promised to try to attend at least a portion of the dinner. Justice Alito is a member of this reunion class, having served as the Reagan appointed United States Attorney for the District of New Jersey 1987-1990
Lutz has sent out an invitation to members of the Reagan-Bush I class. If you are a member and did not receive an invitation, contact Lutz at 575-526-2448 or wlutz@questoffice.net. The Friday night reunion dinners have become a NAFUSA tradition and it is expected that other classes will also be announcing plans soon.
Pete Williams has joined Ted Olson on the NAFUSA panel on the Supreme Court to be held on Saturday morning, September 27, 2013. 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.
Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano, shown left, is reportedly resigning to become the president of the University of California university system.
Napolitano has led DHS from the beginning of the Obama administration. She has also served as the United States Attorney for the District of Arizona and the governor of the state. She was the keynote speaker at NAFUSA’s Santa Fe conference in 2011.
![Joseph_Russoniello[1]](https://i0.wp.com/nafusa.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/07/Joseph_Russoniello1.jpg?resize=200%2C250&ssl=1)
NAFUSA member and former board member Joseph P. Russoniello has joined the newly opened San Francisco office of Los Angeles litigation boutique firm Browne George Ross LLP. The firm is a 10-lawyer firm that litigates high-stakes cases.
Russoniello served as the United States Attorney for the Northern District of California 1982-1990, and again in 2008-2010. Since leaving the U.S. Attorney’s position, he has been doing mostly consulting work. Russoniello also served as Dean of the San Francisco Law School for five and a half years. He received a J.D. degree from New York University Law School. He has served as special agent with the Federal Bureau of Investigation, and later served as an assistant district attorney for the City and County of San Francisco.
The new San Francisco office of Browne George Ross will have an emphasis on white-collar crime and complex corporate litigation.
NAFUSA member Dick Thornburgh was honored on June 27, 2013, as a recipient of The Legal Intelligencer’s Lifetime Achievement Award. The Legal Intelligencer is the oldest law journal in the United States and the award is aimed to select noteworthy individuals who have helped shape the law in Pennsylvania. Thornburgh served as governor of Pennsylvania, attorney general of the United States and under-secretary-general of the United Nations.
President Obama announced this week that he is nominating NAFUSA member Alejandro Mayorkas to be deputy secretary of the Department of Homeland Security. Mayorkas is currently the director of United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) at DHS. He served on the panel on immigration at NAFUSA’s Atlanta conference in 2012. Mayorkas served as the United States Attorney for the Central District of California 1999-200. At the time of his appointment by President Clinton, Mayorkas became the youngest U.S. Attorney to serve the nation at that time.
Prior to becomming the director of USCIS, Mayorkas was a partner in the law firm of O’Melveny & Myers LLP. He served as a member of firm’s worldwide governing Policy Committee. In 2008, the National Law Journal recognized Mayorkas as one of the “50 Most Influnetial Minority Lawyers in America.” He is a graduate of Loyola Law School.
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