Judge Droney Returns to Day Pitney

Day Pitney LLP announced on January 2, 2020, that Christopher F. Droney, retired Senior U.S. Court of Appeals Judge for the Second Circuit, has rejoined the firm’s Hartford office as a partner in the Litigation Department. Droney began his legal career at Day Pitney as an associate following law school. He is also NAFUSA’s newest member.

“We are thrilled to welcome back Judge Droney to Day Pitney,” said Tom Goldberg, Day Pitney’s Managing Partner. “Judge Droney’s unique combination of experience as a trial and appellate jurist for more than two decades and as a former U.S. Attorney will significantly benefit our clients and enhance our deep team of talented lawyers.”

Droney was appointed to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit by President Obama on December 1, 2011, where he served for eight years. Until his elevation to the Court of Appeals, he served as a U.S. District Judge for the District of Connecticut for fourteen years. Before his judgeships, Droney was the U.S. Attorney for Connecticut. His experience also includes serving as Mayor of West Hartford.

While on the Court of Appeals, Droney was a member of the Committee for the Administration of the U.S. Bankruptcy Courts of the U.S. Judicial Conference. He was also a member of the board of directors of the Federal Judges Association.

As a U.S. Attorney, Droney supervised numerous criminal investigations, including grand jury matters. He was also a member of the Attorney General’s Advisory Committee of U.S. Attorneys, and chair of the Civil Issues Subcommittee of the Attorney General’s Advisory Committee.

“I am excited to return to private practice at Day Pitney,” said Droney. “I look forward to collaborating with the firm’s many talented lawyers, many of whom I know and have worked with, to develop solutions for clients across a range of areas.”

As part of Day Pitney’s Litigation Department and a member of the Appellate practice group, Droney’s practice will focus on complex litigation at state and federal levels. He will also represent clients in matters involving governmental and internal investigations and white collar defense.

Judge Droney received his B.A. degree, magna cum laude, from Holy Cross College and his J.D. from the University of Connecticut School of Law.

Rod Rosenstein Joins King & Spalding

King & Spalding today announced on January 8, 2020, that former Deputy Attorney General and NAFUSA member Rod Rosenstein has joined the firm’s Washington, D.C., office as a partner on its Special Matters & Government Investigations team.

Rosenstein spent almost two decades in senior legal management and leadership positions at the U.S. Department of Justice during the administrations of Presidents George W. Bush, Barack Obama and Donald Trump, including as Deputy Attorney General (2017 to 2019) and United States Attorney (2005 to 2017). Prior to his appointment as the Department’s second-highest ranking official, he was the longest-serving Senate-confirmed U.S. Attorney in recent history.

“Rod Rosenstein is an exceptional trial lawyer, strategist and leader with unquestioned integrity and toughness,” said Robert D. Hays, Jr., chairman of King & Spalding. “His arrival underscores the firm’s longstanding commitment to effective advocacy on the most complex and highest stakes government-related matters. Our clients will benefit from the unique experience of Rod and other senior government officials working together as a team. His arrival reflects the firm’s intent to continue building leading practices led by extraordinary lawyers to serve clients on their most pressing and sensitive needs.”

With his vast prosecutorial and enforcement background, Rosenstein becomes another critical member of King & Spalding’s Special Matters & Government Investigations team, which assists clients—corporate, institutional and individual—in sensitive and reputational legal challenges, including many involving government agencies, legislative bodies or state Attorneys General. In the past two years, the firm has significantly ramped up the group with an all-star roster of former senior Justice Department officials, including former Deputy U.S. Attorney General Sally Yates, former U.S. Attorneys John Richter, Zachary Fardon,  John Horn and Jim Vines, former Associate Deputy Attorney General Alicia O’Brien and former FBI Chief of Staff Zack Harmon. Other former senior officials recently joining the firm include former Director of National Intelligence Dan Coats and former General Counsel for the Office of the United States Trade Representative (USTR) and acting USTR Stephen Vaughn.

Rosenstein said, “I worked with many current and former firm lawyers in both Republican and Democratic administrations, and I learned that some of the best lawyers in the world work at King & Spalding. When considering where to go after leaving the Department of Justice, it became clear to me why so many former government officials choose this firm. With an unparalleled depth of experience across its practice groups and a long and distinguished record of success in courtrooms, King & Spalding is a bipartisan firm that focuses on helping clients resolve complex and sensitive matters in the United States and abroad. The inclusive and collaborative culture allows every client to benefit from the broad expertise and deep insight of more than 1,100 exceptional lawyers throughout the firm’s 21 offices. I look forward to working with my new colleagues to expand the firm’s government investigations, national security and cybersecurity practices.”

Rosenstein conducted complex investigations and handled litigation in trial and appellate courtrooms as Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General for the Department’s Tax Division (2001 to 2005), as an Assistant U.S. Attorney for the District of Maryland (1997 to 2001), and as an Associate Independent Counsel (1995 to 1997).

Rosenstein started his legal career in 1989, as a law clerk to Judge Douglas H. Ginsburg of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit. He first joined the Department of Justice as a trial attorney in the prestigious Public Integrity Section of the Criminal Division (1990 to 1993), before serving as counsel to the Deputy Attorney General and the Assistant Attorney General for the Criminal Division (1993 to 1995). In these and other roles, he received dozens of awards and honors for his performance. In addition, Rosenstein gained impressive trial experience while representing the United States at 23 jury trials and arguing 21 appeals in various appellate courts around the country, including the 2018 U.S. Supreme Court criminal case of Chavez-Meza v. United States, in which the Court ruled in favor of his argument.

Rosenstein graduated from the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School, with a B.S. in Economics, summa cum laude and Phi Beta Kappa. He earned his J.D., cum laude, from Harvard Law School, where he was an editor of the Harvard Law Review.

Mike McKay Publishes Personal Essay on Bill Ruckelshaus

As we reported on December 1, 2019, William Ruckelshaus passed away on November 27, 2019. He will be fondly remembered by NAFUSA members who were present at the annual conference in Seattle in 2009 when he gave the keynote address, the first time he publicly spoke of the “Saturday Night Massacre.” On January 4, 2020, the Seattle Times published Past NAFUSA President Mike McKay’s personal essay about Bill Ruckelshaus and the memorable address in 2009. Click her to read  William Ruckelshaus, a man for all seasons . 

Building Dedication in Honor of George Landon Phillips

George Landon Phillips, former United States Attorney for the Southern District of Mississippi (1980-1994) died on January 26, 2015. He was honored by NAFUSA with an American flag flown over Main Justice and presented to his family at his memorial service. George also served as the Mississippi Commissioner of Public Safety, the top State law enforcement position. He will be honored once again on January 10, 2020, as the Mississippi Department of Public Safety dedicates the Mississippi Highway Safety Patrol Troop K- District Office in his honor in Biloxi. George Phillips Building Dedication Ceremony 1.10.20

Bart Daniel Publishes New Book

 

Bart Daniel

NAFUSA Past President Bart Daniel’s latest book, Health Care Fraud & Collateral Consequences, Third Edition, has been published by the South Carolina Bar.

 

Aggressive fraud enforcement in the health care arena was almost unheard of prior to the passage of HIPAA in 1996, which forever changed the enforcement landscape. In addition to creating a specific health care fraud offense, it funded new prosecutor, auditor and agent positions to ferret out and prosecute health care offenders. The 2010 Affordable Care Act (ACA) built on HIPAA, providing additional tools for more aggressive enforcement. In the field, talented and creative Assistant U. S. Attorneys opened an entirely new frontier with the advent of “data mining” where potential health care fraud could be identified in real time.

This publication discusses the impact of these additional weapons of enforcement and the wide-ranging case law which has followed. Whether it’s big Pharma, large scale hospital systems or the day-to-day operations of a small town pharmacy or a behavioral service provider, submission of claims for payment to the Medicare/Medicaid/Tricare programs has become a minefield for the unwary.  Civil False Claims Act exposure, criminal prosecution and exclusion from health care programs is a real concern for providers today. Moreover, the providers risk the loss of their professional licenses and the ability to earn a living. Health care counsel must become familiar with civil and criminal enforcement enough to recognize the early warning signs of an investigation and understand the action that should be taken.

Click here to order a copy of Bart’s new book

 

Carmen Ortiz Elected to the Anderson & Kreiger LLP Partnership

Boston law firm Anderson & Kreiger LLP announced the promotion of former U.S. Attorney and NAFUSA member, Carmen Ortiz  (Massachusetts 2009-02017),  to the partnership effective January 1, 2020.  Carmen focuses her practice at Anderson & Kreiger on internal investigations, white-collar criminal defense and civil litigation. Managing Partner David Mackey commented that “Carmen has had a tremendously successful start to her career at Anderson & Kreiger.  She’s brought in new clients and practice areas to the firm, done excellent work for those clients, and been a role model for the younger lawyers here.  We’re honored that she’s chosen to practice law with us and are proud to include her in the partnership.”

Carmen stated “I am delighted that Anderson & Kreiger has given me its full vote of confidence by having me join them as a partner.  I could not have asked for a greater group of people to work with: talented lawyers who care deeply about their clients, but also about public service, social justice, and who commit themselves, time and time again, to many causes that benefit society and those without a voice.  I look forward to contributing all of my very best to the firm.” Carmen is on the Board of Trustees for Adelphi University, Discovering Justice and Crossroads (a non-profit devoted to empowering youth).  She is also on the Advisory Board of Trustees for Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center and a Board Member at Large for the Massachusetts Women’s Forum.   She is an active member of the Hispanic National Bar Association, Massachusetts Association of Hispanic Attorneys, Women’s Bar Association of Massachusetts, Women’s White Collar Defense Association, American Bar Association, National Association of Former U.S. Attorneys and the Boston Bar Association.

 

William Ruckelshaus dies at 87

William D. Ruckelshaus, who was the keynote speaker at the NAFUSA conference in Seattle in 2009, died on November 27, 2019, at his home in Medina, Washington. He was 87.

In 1973, Ruckelshaus was named acting FBI director and then deputy attorney general during the time of the Watergate investigation. Attorney General Elliott Richardson appointed Archibald Cox, a Harvard law professor, to investigate the break-in at the Democratic National Committee offices in the Watergate complex. When Cox requested access to the Oval Office tape recordings of the time immediately after the break-in, President Nixon refused access and ordered the Attorney General to fire Cox. Richardson refused and resigned. Ruckelshaus was then ordered by the White House to fire Cox, and he, too, refused and resigned.

At NAFUSA’s Seattle conference, Ruckelshaus spoke of the “Saturday Night Massacre” publicly for the first time. Click here to read Ruckelshaus keynote speech Remembering Watergate. It is one of the most memorable keynote speeches in NAFUSA history.

Ruckelshaus later served as the administrator of EPA, under appointment by President Ronald Reagan. He attended Princeton University and received his law degree from Harvard.

Stern Reports on Investigation of Boston Seminaries

NAFUSA Past President Don Stern (Massachusetts 1993-2001) was hired in 2018 by Cardinal Sean P. O’Malley to lead an investigation into allegations of sexual misconduct in all three seminaries in the Archdiocese of Boston. The review focused on allegations of sexual misconduct at Saint John’s Seminary in Brighton. The year long review was led by Stern and his Boston law firm Yurko, Salvensen & Remz. On November 22, 2019, the Archdiocese of Boston released the Stern independent report that confirmed instances of inappropriate sexual activity and found that social drinking was frequently encouraged at St. John’s Seminary.

Click here to read Review drinking and sex at seminary- The Boston Globe