On May 24, 2021, Karen Hewitt was elected president of NAFUSA. She will serve until the 2022 annual conference, tentatively scheduled for April 6-8 at the Del Coronado in San Diego. She replaces Paul Coggins, who served as president from 2019 until this May. Paul will continue on the board of directors as the immediate past president.

Karen is the Partner-in-Charge of Jones Day’s California Region, which encompasses five offices and nearly 300 lawyers. She has been recognized in Chambers as a “real powerhouse.” Before joining Jones Day, Karen served as the  United States Attorney for the Southern District of California (2007-2010), where she focused on national security, border security, cyber and intellectual property crime, white collar and financial crime, civil fraud, violent crime, and narcotics enforcement.

Karen is an experienced trial lawyer who has successfully litigated hundreds of cases in federal court for more than two decades. She currently represents companies nationwide in civil and criminal investigations and in complex business litigation. Karen’s practice focuses on defending matters involving possible violations of federal law, including the Anti-Kickback Statute, the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, the Taft-Hartley Act, and the False Claims Act.

Karen led the defense of an international retailer in a complex FCPA investigation conducted by the DOJ and SEC in four countries. She also has represented major public and private companies in internal investigations on highly sensitive topics, crisis management, compliance, contested proceedings before regulatory agencies, and “bet-the-company” litigation. In the matters Karen leads, she routinely reports to senior management, the board of directors, the audit committee or a special committee, and develops the comprehensive strategy for the company to protect and defend itself from a range of legal and regulatory risks.

She is a Master in the Enright Inn of Court and a member of the Board of Visitors of the University of San Diego School of Law, from which she earned her J.D. in 1989.