NAFUSA lifetime member John McKay reported in from Ramallah, Palestine, where for the past two years he has headed the U.S. State Dept. (INL) rule of law program supporting Palestinian public prosecutors, police and security services.
U.S. government support for a two-state solution in the region includes strengthening Palestinian justice sector and law enforcement, including crime scene investigations, cybercrime enforcement, leadership training for Chief Prosecutors and case management systems for police, prosecution and security forces.
“Working in Palestine to support human rights based training and applying skills learned while serving as U.S. Attorney has been among the most rewarding assignments of my life,” McKay said.
Leading a team of 50 Palestinian lawyers, former police officers and technologists in the Justice Sector Assistance Project for Palestine, McKay intends to return to his full time teaching position on the law faculty of Seattle University in fall, 2015.
In the first photo below, McKay is at the podium addressing Palestinian law students preparing for the International Jessup Moot Court tournament, for which he provided support and training.
McKay took the Palestinian Attorney General to DOJ and FBI in October, as you can see from the bottom photo with the FBI Director Jim Comey.
At the request of Major Jessica Grace Martz, U.S. Marine Corps, NAFUSA member Steve Easton joined the defense team as lead counsel in the General Court-Martial of Sergeant Kayla Cerda, at Marine Corps Recruit Depot, Parris Island, South Carolina in December of 2014.
Major Martz met Easton when she was a student at the University of Wyoming, College of Law. Easton taught her criminal procedure and trial practice classes and was her moot court competition coach. He encouraged Martz to become a trial attorney and told her “if you ever need help, please call me.” When Martz returned to the Marine Corps, she became a new judge advocate. Soon she found herself “undermanned and overwhelmed” in the Cerda case and called upon Easton for help.
Easton joined the Cerda team in August of 2014 to provide pro-bono service, and as Major Martz reports, “His impact was immediate and extremely positive….His tenacity and professionalism in the courtroom were recognized by all, even the military judge.” Sgt. Cerda was acquitted of all charges.
After reading Major Martz’s letter, Easton responded,
While I very much appreciate Major Martz’s kind words, I feel compelled to note that she is being overly generous in describing our respective roles. While I was technically “lead counsel,” only because civilian counsel is presumed to be the lead counsel in court-martial trials, this was very much a shared command. While it might (or might not!) be true the Sgt. Cerda would not have been found not guilty on all twenty counts that went to the Members (as the jurors are called in court-martials) without me, it is definitely true that she would not have been found not guilty without the considerable skills and hard work of Major Martz. She handled dozens of key witnesses, conducted the voir dire, and gave the defense opening. In difficult circumstances, she was superb in all of these facets of the trial, as well as in her pretrial advocacy and investigative work. Working with Major Martz on this case was my proudest moment as a teacher. To see one’s student fight the good fight for her client, both ethically and tenaciously, against long odds, is something I will always treasure.
Easton reflected on the virtues of pro bono work,
As someone who wishes he had done a bit more pro bono work over the years, I can add that I am now a big believer in the concept that all of us should try, at least once, to pretty much drop everything and take on the representation of someone who could use our help, despite the odds and the reality that doing so will set us behind on everything else that demands our time and attention.
Easton is a professor of law at the University of Wyoming College of Law. He served as United States Attorney for the District of North Dakota 1990-1993.
McGuireWoods announced on January 29, 2015, that NAFUSA member George Terwilliger has joined the firm as co-chair of the white collar practice and leader of the new Strategic Risk and Crisis Management group.
George served as the United States Attorney for the District of Vermont 1986-1991 and the Deputy Attorney General of the United States under President George H.W. Bush and helped lead the Bush legal team in the 2000 Florida election recount. In the private sector, Terwilliger counsels clients in internal investigations and enforcement proceedings, especially those involving the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ), the Securities and Exchange Commission, and other agencies.
Also making the move from Morgan Lewis is Robert Bittman, whose practice focuses on issues impacting multinational corporations, particularly matters arising under the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act and False Claims Act, as well as Todd Steggerda, who brings to McGuireWoods more than 16 years of experience in government contracts litigation.
“Attracting George Terwilliger, Bob Bittman and Todd Steggerda is a coup for any firm,” said NAFUSA member Richard Cullen, shown right, chairman of the firm and a former U.S. attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia 1991-1993, and former Virginia attorney general who established the firm’s white collar practice. “Their experience, connections and leadership will be a tremendous asset for our clients. We are delighted they are joining us to launch the Strategic Risk and Crisis Management practice.”
Jenny A. Durkan stepped down as the United States Attorney for the Western District of Washington at the end of September and, on January 7, 2015, joined Quinn Emanuel Urquhart & Sullivan, LLP as a partner. The firm announced it was opening an office in Seattle, and that Durkan would be based there. She became a member of NAFUSA today.
Durkan will serve as Global Chair of the Cyber Law and Privacy Group, and join the firm’s White Collar & Corporate Investigations practice. Duran was in the first group of six U.S. Attorneys nominated by President Obama in May 2009; she was confirmed unanimously by the U.S. Senate in September 2009. During her five years as U.S. Attorney, Durkan was a member of the Attorney General’s Advisory Committee, and chaired its sub-committee on Cybercrime and IP Enforcement. She served on the DOJ’s Cyber Advisory Committee and IP Enforcement Taskforce, and co-chaired the Taskforce’s criminal and civil enforcement working groups. In addition to Seattle, Durkan will practice out of the firm’s Washington, D.C. office.
Durkan is Fellow of the American College of Trial Lawyers, and a graduate of the University of Notre Dame and the University of Washington. Before serving as the U.S. Attorney in Seattle, Durkan was known for her work in noteworthy litigation, including serving as trial counsel to defend Washington Governor Christine Gregoire in the disputed election re-count of 2004.
Quinn Emanuel is a 700+ lawyer business litigation firm—the largest in the world devoted solely to business litigation and arbitration with 18 global office locations. www.quinnemanuel.com.
NAFUSA’s newest member, Tristram J. Coffin, left his position as United States Attorney for the District of Vermont on January 12, 2015, to join the northern New England law firm Downs Rachlin Martin PLLC as a director in the Burlington office.
At DRM, Coffin will represent clients in significant civil and criminal litigation both within Vermont and outside of the state. He will assist clients with internal and external investigations in areas such as health care, corporate fiduciary duties, government contracting and securities.
Except for three years in private practice in 2006-2009, Coffin has spent the last 17 years in the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Vermont, including the past six years as chief prosecutor. Coffin was appointed to the post in 2009 by President Barack Obama. From 2009 to his departure, Coffin served as co-chair of the Subcommittee on Criminal Practice of the U.S. Attorney General’s Advisory Committee, dealing with key issues facing the Department of Justice, including discovery reform, charging standards, sentencing issues, agency tape recording policy, Giglio reform and grand jury practice. He also served on the AGAC Health Care Fraud Working Group, the Cyber Crime Working Group and the Cross Border Crime Forum, addressing issues of U.S.-Canada law enforcement and cooperation.
A graduate of Wesleyan University and the Columbia University School of Law, Coffin was counsel to the Subcommittee on Technology and the Law of the U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee, where he worked closely with Vermont Senator Leahy. In that capacity, Coffin assisted the Senator with policies regarding crime, civil rights and court legislation, hi-tech antitrust issues, the Northeast Interstate Dairy Compact, and the approval of three nominees to the U.S. Supreme Court and many executive and judicial branch nominees, among other matters.
The 60-plus attorneys at DRM apply creativity, connections and experience to solve the toughest legal problems. From offices located in Vermont and New Hampshire, DRM represents regional, national and international entrepreneurs, venture capitalists, technology businesses and Fortune 100 companies. The legal services provided by the firm include bankruptcy and business restructuring, general business, captive insurance, renewable energy and telecommunications, health law, intellectual property, labor and employment, litigation, real estate and land use, environmental,tax, and trusts and estates, plus legislative and regulatory services through the firm’s Government and Public Affairs group. DRM is the exclusive member firm in Vermont for Lex Mundi – the world’s leading network of independent law firms with in-depth experience in more than 100 countries worldwide.
This week Illinois Governor Bruce Rauner announced the appointment of NAFUSA member Rodger Heaton as Public Safety Director and Homeland Security Advisor.
Heaton has 30 years of legal experience, including spending more than four years as the U.S. Attorney for the Central District of Illinois (2005-2009), appointed by President George W. Bush. Most recently, he was a partner at Hinshaw & Culbertson. He also spent two years as a partner at Kirkland & Ellis.
Until joining the administration, Heaton was an Administrative Law Judge with the U.S. Office of Disability Adjudication and Review. He presided over federal administrative hearings of disability claims under the Social Security Act.
Heaton earned his law degree from Indiana University and holds a bachelor’s degree in agricultural economics from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.
2015 NAFUSA membership dues were payable by February 28, 2015. Dues remain at $150 for regular members, $1500 for lifetime and $50 for seniors (fully retired and over 70).
If you have not yet paid your 2015 dues, you are in arrears. Please register on line by clicking on the red link below. You may pay by credit card or mail a check. Please fill out the on line registration even if mailing a check.
NAFUSA Secretary Doug Jones will be prominently featured on PBS as part of the “America Reframed” series that follows two schools in the Birmingham area- one white, one black- as they collaborate on a production of “To Kill a Mockingbird.”
Jones, former United States Attorney for the ND of Alabama, was the prosecutor of the the 16th Street Baptist Church bombing. He is joined in the documentary by Attorney General Eric Holder; Congressman John Lewis; Harvard Law School Professor Charles Ogletree; Pulitzer Prize winning writers Rick Bragg and Diane McWhorter; as well as actors from the 1962 film.
On January 2, 2015, the United States Merit Systems Protection Board voided the suspensions of two Alaska Assistant United States Attorneys, James Bottini and James Goeke, in the public corruption case against former Sen. Ted Stevens. Bottini was represented by NAFUSA Board Member Ken Wainstein.
Bottini and Goeke were members of the 2008 federal criminal prosection team of Sen. Stevens. Although a jury convicted the Senator, the government moved to vacate the conviction on the grounds that its prosecution team had failed to disclose information that was exculpatory or could have been used for impeachment. The Office of Professional Responsibility (OPR) found that Bottini and Goeke had recklessly, although not intentionally, committed professional misconduct in handling some of this information.
The Merit Systems Protections Board found that the Department committed harmful procedural error by deviating from its Professional Misconduct Review Unit (PMRU) disciplinary process. The Board found two harmful errors. The first, the agency replaced the proposing official after he authored his memorandum explaining why he believed OPR’s findings of reckless professional misconduct were not supported. Secondly, the agency designated the PMRU Chief, rather than a subordinate PMRU attorney, to serve as the proposing official.
Although the Board did not reach the merits of the substantive charge against the appellants, based on the procedural errors, it cancelled the suspensions and ordered the agency to pay the appellants back pay, interest and other benefits.
You must be logged in to post a comment.