NAFUSA members elected King & Spalding LLP partner, John C. Richter, as incoming President during the general membership meeting in Half Moon Bay. The United States Attorney for the Western District of Oklahoma from 2005 to 2009, John succeeds outgoing president Chuck Stevens and will serve through the next conference in the fall of 2024. Chuck will continue to serve on the Board of Directors as Immediate Past President. “I’m honored to serve this great organization,” John stated.” “I look forward to working with my fellow officers and board members as we lead this great organization in continuing to fulfill its mission in promoting and supporting the institution of the United States Attorney.”

John is a trial and investigations partner in the Special Matters and Investigations Practice Group of King & Spalding LLP. He represents and defends companies, Boards of Directors and others facing white collar criminal, civil, and regulatory enforcement matters. He has tried and/or defended criminal and/or civil cases and investigations in more than 15 federal districts, and all 50 states and the District of Columbia.

John served from 2003 to 2005 as Chief of Staff to Assistant Attorney General
Christopher A. Wray. In 2005, John then served as the Acting Assistant Attorney General for the Criminal Division at DOJ, leading almost 500 prosecutors on a range of national security and federal criminal law cases and investigations. While serving as Acting AAG he was a member of the President’s Corporate Fraud Task Force and oversaw the Enron Task Force.

In 2005, he was appointed U.S. Attorney for the Western District of Oklahoma, where he served until 2009, after being nominated by President George W. Bush and confirmed by unanimous Senate consent. While U.S. Attorney, he chaired the AGAC’s Sentencing Subcommittee and served as a member of the AGAC’s White Collar Crime, Native American Issues and Terrorism and National Security Subcommittees.

He has been recognized as one of the top 100 trial lawyers in America by Benchmark Litigation, a “White Collar Defense MVP” by Law360, and a “Life Sciences Star” by LMG Life Sciences.

John began his career as a federal prosecutor as an Assistant U.S. Attorney in Atlanta and Oklahoma City after serving as an Assistant District Attorney in Cobb County, Georgia. From 1992 to 1994, John served as a law clerk to the Honorable J. Owen Forrester, United States District Judge for the Northern District of Georgia. He is a graduate of Emory University and of the University of Virginia School of Law.

John formally assumed the duties of President on Friday night of the Half Moon Bay conference.

Passing of the torch to newly elected president John Richter, left, from outgoing president Chuck Stevens.

Longtime NAFUSA member Donald “Don” Washington was elected Treasurer during the general membership meeting at the Half Moon Bay conference. Don served as United States Attorney for the Western District of Louisiana from 2001 to 2010 under presidents George W. Bush and Barack Obama. While U.S. Attorney he served on the AGAC. He later served as the 11th Director of the United States Marshals Service (USMS), overseeing the operations of nearly 5500 USMS employees, under Presidents
Donald Trump and Joe Biden from 2019 to 2021. After leaving the USMS, Don returned to his former law firm, Jones Walker, as a partner in the Litigation Practice Group on the corporate compliance and whitecollar defense team in the Lafayette office.

Don is a graduate of the United States Military Academy and the South Texas College of Law.

Also, NAFUSA members at the annual conference elected a new slate of Directors to serve as the Class of 2026. The new Board of Directors members are:

Deidre Daly, former U.S. Attorney for the District of Connecticut from 2013 to 2017 under Presidents Obama and Trump, is currently a partner and co-chair of Finn Dixon & Herling’s Litigation Practice.

Conner Eldridge served as U.S. Attorney for the Western District of Arkansas from December 2010 to August 2015 under President Obama. He is now a partner at Eldridge Brooks Partners in Fayetteville.

Brendan Johnson served as U.S. Attorney for the District of South Dakota from 2009 to 2015 under President Obama. He served on the AGAC and as chair of the Native American Issues Subcommittee. He is now a partner with Robins Kaplan in Sioux Falls, S.D.

James “Jim” Letten served as U.S. Attorney for more than eleven years in the Eastern District of Louisiana under Presidents George W. Bush and Obama. He is now with Butler Snow.

Paul Perez was appointed by President George W. Bush and served as U.S. Attorney for the Middle District of Florida from 2002 to 2007. He is currently with Fidelity National Financial, Inc.

Jeff Taylor, former U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia from 2006-2009, is currently Executive Vice President and General Counsel for the Fox Corporation

The 2023 J. Michael Bradford Award winner is Amanda Strachan, AUSA in charge of the Criminal Division in the District of Massachusetts. Amanda was selected by a committee of NAFUSA board members from over 20 candidates submitted by U.S. Attorneys offices across the nation. The selection committee was extremely impressed by her legal acumen and tenacious handling of the criminal investigation and
prosecution of the New England Compounding Center (NECC), the compounding pharmacy responsible for the 2012 nationwide fungal meningitis outbreak in which approximately 800 patients were sickened throughout the county and more than 100 patients died. The NECC investigation resulted in a 131-count indictment and led to convictions of 14 owners, executives, and former employees of the company. The
committee was also impressed with the compassionate way she handled the victims and their families.

District of Massachusetts U.S. Attorney Rachael Rollins applauded the selection of Amanda Strachan for the award, “You could not have picked a more deserving lawyer and public servant to recognize… She inspired and empowered a team of AUSAs, legal assistants, victim specialists, and other professionals to do their best work on behalf of the victims in the New England Compounding Center case – and she continues to do that every single day in every case she oversees.”

Amanda’s presentation at the conference clearly reflected her dedication to this case and to finding justice for the victims of the NECC. She led the NECC investigation and prosecution for over a decade, including four trials, securing justice for the victims, and putting a spotlight on abuses in the compounding pharmacy industry.

Amanda joined the U.S. Attorney’s office in 2007. Prior to that she practiced at WilmerHale LLP where she specialized in white collar criminal defense and internal corporate investigations. She is a graduate of Bowdoin College and Boston University School of Law. She has received two Attorney General’s Distinguished Service Awards and EOUSA’s Director’s Award for Superior Service.

NAFUSA Foundation President Ed Dowd, Bradford Award Winner Amanda Strachan and NAFUSA Secretary Catherine Hanaway

NAFUSA member Dan French will be stepping down in June as Syracuse University’s senior vice president and general counsel after ten years tenure with the university. He will be returning to the full-time private practice of law, rejoining Barclay Damon, working out of the firm’s New York City and Syracuse offices.

French served as the U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of New York from 1999 to 2001 after being nominated by President Clinton. Prior to that he served in that office as an Assistant United States Attorney for two years. He had previously clerked for a federal district judge and in various positions in the U.S. Senate, including as executive assistant to Senator Daniel Patrick Moynihan.

In a statement announcing his departure, French said, “Serving my alma mater as its general counsel for nearly a decade has truly been one of the highest honors of my career. Even though I will miss it, I very much look forward to the next chapter…” French earned his law degree from the Syracuse University College of Law and a bachelor’s degree from the State University of New York College at Oswego.

Beginning in January 2023, the NAFUSA Board of Directors has created a new level of
membership – Rossman Sustaining Members – named in honor of former longtime Executive Director Rich Rossman. The $500 annual membership fee will help NAFUSA to continue its tradition of providing excellent service to its members at low cost and to support the NAFUSA Foundation. Each year, the names of the Rossman Sustaining Members will be listed on our website. Our thanks to the following NAFUSA members who are the first Sustaining Members of 2023: Tim Purdon, Kenneth Magidson, Melinda Haag, Brendan Johnson, Thomas O’Brien, Mike McKay, John Walsh, Carole Rendon, Edward Dowd, Jack Selden, John Richter and Edward Tarver. Please consider joining them!

On January 12, 2023, Attorney General Merrick Garland appointed NAFUSA member Robert K. Hur, a partner in the Washington D.C. office of Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher, to lead an investigation into the handling of classified documents by President Biden. The appointment as Special Counsel followed information revealed by the White House that documents from Mr. Biden’s time as Vice President in the Obama Administration were found in two locations.

Mr. Hur, a former federal prosecutor and senior Justice Department official, was the United States Attorney in Maryland under the Trump administration from 2018 to 2021. He graduated from Stanford and Harvard and clerked for then Chief Justice William J. Rehnquist, following law school. His experience in the Department of Justice includes working as the Principal Associate Deputy Attorney General under Rod Rosenstein, the Deputy Attorney General under Donald Trump, and before that as special assistant
to Christopher Wray who was then leading the DOJ’s Criminal Division.

In remarks delivered on the appointment of Robert Hur as Special Counsel, Attorney General Merrick praised Mr. Hur’s long and distinguished career as a prosecutor. He expressed confidence in Mr. Hur’s ability to carry out his responsibility “in an even-handed and urgent manner” and promised to ensure that he receives all the resources he needs to conduct his work.

NAFUSA’s mission is to promote, defend and further the integrity of the Offices of United States Attorneys. The organization has, since 1979, lived up to its mission, in part, by providing a forum through its annual conferences for continuing education and fostering professional relationships and the exchange of information. Even more, NAFUSA has been providing the opportunity to socialize and network with fellow members at its conferences in great locations and at a reasonable price. To help
continue with this tradition, and to give NAFUSA members the opportunity to reaffirm their support of the organization, the Board of Directors has created a new level of  membership beginning in 2023 – Sustaining Member. The new membership level, which consists of an annual fee of $500 in addition to membership dues, will be named after former Executive Director Rich Rossman. Please consider becoming a Sustaining Member when you register for the 2023 NAFUSA Conference in Half Moon Bay or when you make your 2023 dues payment.

The National Hockey League’s Boston Bruins have hired a law firm to review their player-vetting process in the wake of intense backlash after signing hockey prospect Mitchell Miller. Former Attorney General and NAFUSA member Loretta Lynch, a partner at Paul, Weiss, will lead a team of lawyers from that firm conducting an independent review of how the Bruins vet players. A spokesperson for the team said the Bruins willfully cooperate with the review and will publicly disclose the results.

Ms. Lynch was the 83rd Attorney General of the United States serving from 2015 to 2017. She also served as U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of New York 1999-2002 and 2010-2015.