Registration for the 2022 National Association of Former United States Attorneys (NAFUSA) Annual Conference is open.
Our Annual Conference will be held at The Hotel Del Coronado in San Diego California, April 6-8, 2022.
The conference will open on Wednesday, April 6th, with a welcome reception from 6-9 pm at the hotel sponsored by Guidepost Solutions. Lifetime NAFUSA member Christopher Wray, Director of the FBI, will make opening comments. Golf will be available at 8am on Wednesday morning at the Torrey Pines North Golf Course. Bus will leave the hotel at 6:30 am.
Thursday and Friday sessions will include a panel discussion on “Leadership and the Legacy of Women at DOJ” with Loretta Lynch, Jamie Gorelick and Sally Yates, moderated by Karen Hewitt; a presentation of the Bradford Award to the top AUSA of the year; a Supreme Court Update by Kathleen Sullivan; a panel on “Crypto: the Good, the Bad, the Ugly” with Steve Bunnell, Sean Joyce, Jai Massari, and Eun Young Choi, moderated by Ken Wainstein; an update on EOUSA with Monty Wilkinson; and an ethics presentation by Chuck Rosenberg entitled “The Korematsu Story: The Duty of Candor to the Court.” On each day of the meetings, luncheons will be held for all participants. The Thursday lunch will honor retiring NAFUSA Executive Director Rich Rossman.
Thursday evening is reserved for class reunions at various off-site locations, organized by a representative of each class. The closing dinner and general membership meeting will be held on Friday with a presentation from our keynote speaker, Deputy Attorney General Lisa Monaco.
NAFUSA Board Member Chuck Rosenberg will give the ethics presentation at the San Diego NAFUSA Conference in April. It will be entitled “The Korematsu Story: The Duty of Candor to the Court.”
Chuck has held numerous senior positions in the United States Department of Justice – as the United States Attorney in both the Eastern District of Virginia and the Southern District of Texas, as the senior counselor for national security to one Director of the FBI, and as the Chief of Staff to another FBI Director, as counselor to the Attorney General of the United States, as the Chief of Staff to the Deputy Attorney General of the United States, and as the Administrator of the Drug Enforcement Administration – a position from which he resigned in 2017.
Chuck joined the Department of Justice directly out of law school, through the Attorney General’s Honors Program, and quickly found the job he enjoyed most – as an Assistant United States Attorney in the Eastern District of Virginia, in Norfolk and Alexandria. There, he tried dozens of criminal cases before juries and briefed and argued many of those cases to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit. Chuck prosecuted complex financial fraud crimes, public corruption, violent crimes, and national security cases.
Chuck currently works as a legal analyst for MSNBC and NBC, as a senior counsel for a Washington, D.C. law firm, and as an adjunct professor at the Georgetown University School of Foreign Service, where he teaches National Security Law and Policy.He is a graduate of Tufts University (BA), Harvard University (MPP), and the University of Virginia (JD).Chuck also hosted the acclaimed podcast, The Oath, which finished a four-season run with more than ten million downloads (available at msnbc.com/theoath).
NAFUSA life time member Chris Wray was the keynote speaker at the last NAFUSA conference, held in San Francisco in 2019. The Covid-19 pandemic has prevented holding conferences in 2020 and 2021. Our next conference is scheduled for April 6-8, 2022, at the Hotel Del Coronado in San Diego. Director Wray will return and open the conference with remarks at the Welcome Reception on the evening of April 6, 2022.
Christopher Wray became the eighth Director of the FBI on August 2, 2017.
Mr. Wray was born in New York City. He graduated from Yale University in 1989 and earned his law degree from Yale Law School in 1992. He then clerked for Judge J. Michael Luttig of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit. In 1993, he began working in private practice in Atlanta, Georgia.
Mr. Wray began his Department of Justice career in 1997 as an assistant U.S. attorney for the Northern District of Georgia, where he prosecuted cases ranging from public corruption to gun trafficking and financial fraud. In 2001, he joined the Office of the Deputy Attorney General, where he served as associate deputy attorney general and then principal associate deputy attorney general, with oversight responsibilities spanning the full Department.
In 2003, Mr. Wray was nominated by President George W. Bush to serve as assistant attorney general for the Criminal Division. In addition to overseeing criminal matters, Mr. Wray played a key role in the evolving national security mission of the Department as it responded to the attacks on 9/11. He also served on the President’s Corporate Fraud Task Force and supervised the Enron Task Force and other major national and international fraud investigations. At the conclusion of his tenure, Mr. Wray was awarded the Edmund J. Randolph Award, the Department of Justice’s highest award for leadership and public service.
After leaving the Department of Justice in 2005, Mr. Wray returned to private practice at the law firm King & Spalding, where he chaired the Special Matters and Government Investigations Practice Group.
The Welcome Reception will be sponsored by our friends at Guidepost Solutions. Golf will be available on Wednesday morning, and CLE meeting will take place on Thursday and Friday mornings. The Planning Committee is putting together a very exciting program, details of which will appear on our website and in the monthly newsletter. The conference will conclude on Friday, April 8, with a dinner and a keynote speaker to be announced.
Registration will begin mid-January. Members will receive email invitations. The registration form will include an option for booking a room at the Del Coronado. It is suggested that you register early in order to assure a room.
The 2022 NAFUSA conference is confirmed at the Hotel del Coronado. Due to the pandemic, it will be NAFUSA’s first conference since 2019 in San Francisco. Golf for those interested will be held at Torrey Pines north course the morning of Wednesday April 6, 2022. The conference will kick off Wednesday evening with an event from 6:30-9:30 pm at the hotel on the beach. CLE programs will be on Thursday and Friday from 8:00 am to approximately noon. An off site event will be planned for either Thursday or Friday afternoon for all to attend. As usual, Thursday evening will be the class dinners. We are looking for a “captain” from each administration to coordinate the class dinners. Please reach out to Lisa Rafferty if you would like to take on that role. The conference will conclude Friday evening with a dinner and key note speaker. The conference committee is working hard to put together an amazing program. Details will be released once speakers are confirmed. Keep an eye on our monthly newsletters for updates on the conference. Registration will open in January 2022.
NAFUSA President Paul Coggins announced the scheduling of a NAFUSA Webinar for Wednesday, October 28, 2020, from 12:30 PM to 1:30 PM ET. It has long been a NAFUSA tradition to invite the Director of the Executive Office of United States Attorneys (EOUSA) and the Chair of the Attorney General’s Advisory Committee (AGAC) to our annual conferences. As the 2020 conference has been cancelled due to the Covid 19 pandemic, a one hour webinar has been scheduled for a dialogue with Erin Nealy Cox, Chair, AGAC and Corey Frazier Ellis, the Senior Official performing the duties of the Director of EOUSA. The dialogue will be moderated by Paul Coggins. Invitations will be emailed in October to all NAFUSA members, sponsors and Friends of NAFUSA.
Erin Nealy Cox
Sworn into office on November 17, 2017, United States Attorney Erin Nealy Cox is the chief federal law enforcement officer in the Northern District of Texas, which covers 100 counties, more than 96,000 square miles, and a population of approximately eight million. Appointed by the President and confirmed by the U.S. Senate, she is responsible for all federal criminal prosecutions and civil litigation involving the United States in her district. As U.S. Attorney, Ms. Nealy Cox oversees a staff of approximately 120 attorneys and a similar number of non-attorney support personnel assigned among five division offices.
In March of 2018, Ms. Nealy Cox was appointed by Attorney General Jeff Sessions to be a member of the Attorney General’s Advisory Committee (AGAC). Created in 1973, the AGAC is a group of 15 U.S. Attorneys advising the Attorney General on matters of policy and substantive issues affecting the Justice Department. In Feburary 2020, Ms. Nealy Cox was promoted by Attorney General William Barr to Chair of the AGAC.
Prior to her appointment as U.S. Attorney, Ms. Cox worked as a Senior Advisor at McKinsey & Co. in the cybersecurity and risk practice. She also served on the Board of Directors of Sally Beauty Holdings, a large retailer on the NYSE. From 1999 to 2008, Ms. Nealy Cox served as an Assistant United States Attorney in the Northern District of Texas, where she prosecuted cyber crimes, white collar crimes, and general crimes. In 2004 and 2005, she served at Main Justice as chief of staff and senior counsel to the Assistant Attorney General in the Office of Legal Policy. From 2008 to 2016, Ms. Nealy Cox was a member of the executive leadership team at Stroz Friedberg, a cybersecurity and investigations consulting firm, ultimately leading the firm’s global incident response business. Ms. Nealy Cox clerked for the Honorable Henry A. Politz, when he served as Chief Judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit, and the Honorable Barefoot Sanders, United States District Judge in the Northern District of Texas.
Ms. Nealy Cox received her J.D., magna cum laude, from Southern Methodist University Dedman School of Law and her B.B.A. in finance from the McCombs School of Business at the University of Texas at Austin. She is a member of the Texas and New York Bar Associations.
Corey Frazier Ellis
Corey Frazier Ellis is the Senior Official performing the duties of the Director for the Executive Office for United States Attorneys (EOUSA). The Executive Office, created in 1953, provides general guidance and support to more than 11,000 employees in 94 United States Attorneys’ offices located throughout the 50 states, the District of Columbia, Guam, the Northern Mariana Islands, Puerto Rico, and the U.S. Virgin Islands. As Senior Official, Corey oversees EOUSA and serves as the principal staff officer for the Deputy Attorney General for all matters related to the United States Attorneys, as well as the primary liaison between the Attorney General, the Deputy Attorney General, and the United States Attorneys. Corey provides executive assistance and supervision for the United States Attorneys, including legal education, administrative oversight, technical support, security, policy, and regulation to ensure the effective advancement of DOJ priorities throughout the United States Attorneys’ offices.
Attorney General William P. Barr appointed Corey to the position effective September 16, 2019. Prior to this appointment, Corey served in several leadership roles in the Office of the Deputy Attorney General including Chief of Staff to Deputy Attorney General Rod J. Rosenstein.
Before joining the Deputy Attorney General’s office, Corey was the First Assistant in the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Western District of North Carolina. While an Assistant United States Attorney, Corey handled a wide range of criminal investigations including public corruption, white collar fraud, securities fraud, and cybercrime. Corey began his career as a prosecutor in the District Attorney’s Office in Hendersonville, North Carolina and has tried more than 100 jury trials.
Corey received his undergraduate degree from Brown University and his J.D. from the University of Memphis, School of Law.
GlassRatner has been a NAFUSA sponsor since 2017. Bert Lacativo has been a regular at our conferences and a long time friend of NAFUSA. Approximately two years ago GlassRatner merged with B. Riley Financial and on August 10, 2020, GlassRatner announced it will become B. Riley Advisory Services. They will continue as a NAFUSA sponsor through 2021 under the new name.
B. Riley Financial has expanded its platform to a 1,000-person strong diversified financial services company, which has earned a reputation as a trusted advisor, strategic partner and value investor serving thousands of clients, partners and stakeholders across the United States and abroad. Today, B. Riley offers a full suite of end-to-end services and solutions through a combination of complementary businesses, which provide investment banking, capital markets, forensic accounting and litigation support, restructuring, retail liquidation, appraisal and valuation, capital management and wealth management services.
With Covid-19 having brought the nation to a virtual standstill, the NAFUSA board of directors was forced to cancel their Spring board meeting in Austin, Texas. Instead, President Paul Coggins led the board via Zoom with it’s first virtual meeting on April 18, 2020. After reviewing the current state of the nation’s health and economic concerns, it became clear that holding our annual conference in New York City on September 30-October 2 would be impossible. Therefore, by an unanimous vote, the board decided to postpone this year’s conference and attempt to reschedule in New York in the fall of 2021.
Discussions have begun with the New York Hilton Midtown, which was planned to be the situs of this year’s conference, to schedule new dates in 2021. We also hope that the speakers we have lined up so far will join us in 2021. They include Ted Olson, Neal Katyal, Bob Fiske, Ken Starr, Charlie Savage, Chuck Rosenberg, Jay Stephens and Larry Thompson. The planning committee was also charged by the board to consider organizing a webinar in the fall, hopefully with CLE credits.
NAFUSA will offer our sponsors a choice of taking a refund of their 2020 contribututions or else carrying contributions over to the 2021 conference. Those who carry over their contributions will be listed as 2020 and 2021 sponsors. Any additional sponsors who join in 2020 will also receive the benefit of being listed for both years. Guidepost Solutions has already committed to continue as the sponsor of the opening reception in New York in 2021.
The board also agreed unanimously to recommend to the membership at large that the current slate of officers and directors be frozen through the annual conference in 2021.
NAFUSA life member Chuck Rosenberg (ED Virginia 2006-2008, Texas 2005-2006) and the former Acting Director of DEA), will return to present the 2020 ethics lecture at the annual NAFUSA conference in New York City, September 30-October 2. Chuck was scheduled to give this lecture last year at the San Francisco conference but had to cancel due to an appendectomy attack. Chuck will speak on “The Korematsu Story–The Duty of Candor to The Court”. Registration for fall conference is expected to begin in June.
Here is his preview:
In early 1942, following the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, FDR issued Executive Order 9066, enabling west coast military commanders to set up curfews and exclusion zones, ostensibly to protect the US against sabotage by Japanese Americans. More than 110,000 Japanese Americans on the west coast were relocated to internment camps, primarily in the mountain west. However, two reports – one commissioned by the State Department and one conducted by the Naval Office of Intelligence – showed that there actually was not a significant threat from Japanese Americans living on the west coast. Indeed, for the most part, those reports showed quite the opposite and, to the extent there was a threat from Japanese Americans, it was confined to a small group of individuals largely known to the FBI and national security officials, many of whom were already under surveillance or in custody. Further, at least two DOJ attorneys knew about the Munson and Ringle reports and believed – and put it in writing – that withholding the findings from those reports from the Supreme Court in connection with the litigation of the Hirabayashi (curfew) and Korematsu (exclusion) cases amounted to a suppression of evidence. Those DOJ attorneys lost an internal debate to the Solicitor General, who concealed the information from the Court and misled it in oral argument in response to a direct question about the views of the USG on the threat posed by Japanese Americans. About seven decades later, the SG’s office (led, at the time, by Neal Katyal) confessed error, acknowledging that the reports had been suppressed and that providing truthful information to the Court was not only required but might have affected the outcome.
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