NAFUSA member George J. Terwilliger III has been named the 2013 Republican Lawyer of the Year by the Board of Governors of the Republican National Lawyers Association (RNLA). Terwilliger was selected in recognition of his outstanding professional accomplishments and years of service to the Republican Party and its ideals and was honored at a reception on June 25, 2013, at the Capitol Hill Club in Washington, D.C. He is shown above (left) with his son, Zachary Terwilliger, an AUSA, and Senator Cruz (right).

Terwilliger is a partner in Morgan, Lewis & Bockius LLP’s Litigation Practice and co-chair of the White Collar Litigation and Government Investigations Practice. Terwilliger provides counsel in litigation, internal investigations, and enforcement proceedings, especially those involving the U.S. Department of Justice, the Securities and Exchange Commission, and other primary enforcement agencies.

Terwilliger has served in many proceedings involving political affairs, most notably as a leader of the Bush-Cheney legal team in the 2000 Florida recount and as counsel to President George W. Bush in litigation over his right to have prayers said in the 2005 Inauguration. He served as counsel to the contests committee of the 1996 GOP convention, represented the RNC in litigation concerning demonstrators’ access to the 1996 convention and provided counsel in matters related to the 2008 election and 2012 campaign. He has also represented the RNC’s General Counsel in a campaign finance investigation and was special counsel for a Senate committee investigation of alleged vote fraud. Terwilliger is former president of the RNLA and is currently a member of the RNLA Board of Governors. He has also served as a speaker at both the RNLA’s National Policy Conference and National Election Law Seminar.

In public service, Mr. Terwilliger served as a U.S. presidential appointee in two administrations. He was appointed a U.S. Attorney for the District of Vermont by President Ronald Reagan and served as Deputy Attorney General and as Acting Attorney General in the George H.W. Bush administration. Major cases in which Mr. Terwilliger was personally involved as a prosecutor include the BCCI international banking scandal, where he led negotiations for the government that resulted in a comprehensive criminal and civil resolution involving more than 25 parties in the United States and abroad. He has had leadership responsibility in several domestic and international crises, including managing the federal response to massive civil unrest in Los Angeles and working directly with the FBI in an operation to rescue federal officers held hostage in a prison takeover.

In the private sector, Terwilliger has represented American and international energy, financial, telecommunications, healthcare, and industrial companies; as well as individuals in government investigations and in civil and criminal litigation. He has tried over 50 cases in his career and routinely appears for clients in federal trial and appellate court proceedings. Terwilliger continues to contribute to the public discussion on public policy and related legal issues, most recently as a witness before the first hearing held by the House Judiciary Committee’s Over-Criminalization Task Force.

The Republican National Lawyers Association (RNLA) is the national organization of Republican attorneys. Past winners of the Republican Lawyer of the Year Award include NAFUSA member Theodore B. Olson.