Former U.S. Solicitor General Ted Olson died Wednesday, November 13 after suffering a stroke. He was 84. He led the Justice Department’s Office of Legal Counsel as Assistant Attorney General and later served as Solicitor General from June 2001 to July 2004. While in that office he argued 65 cases.
Olson, a longtime NAFUSA member, argued and won many landmark cases, including the high profile case Bush v. Gore, which resulted in the presidency going to George W. Bush. He continued to argue cases of high impact before the Court after his time as Solicitor General as a private lawyer.
His tenure as Solicitor General was marked by personal tragedy. His wife Barbara was on the highjacked plane that went down at the Pentagon. She was able to call him and tell him that her plane was highjacked and talk for several minutes before the line went dead.
Most of Olson’s legal career was in private practice. He was a member of the conservative Federalist Society, but also championed causes such as allowing “dreamers” to remain in the U.S. legally and striking down laws banning gay marriage. He was still practicing law up until a few days before his death.
Attorney General Merrick Garland released a statement praising Olson’s integrity, skill and dedication to the rule of law. “The passing of Ted Olson is an enormous loss the for the legal community. Ted was an extraordinary attorney and public servant whose
contributions to the Justice Department and the law will long be remembered.”
In keeping with NAFUSA tradition, a flag was flown in his honor over the Department of
Justice on November 18, 2024.
You may have heard the question, “Why hold the 2024 annual conference in
Oklahoma City?” You may have even asked the question yourself. The 195
NAFUSA members and guests who signed up for this year’s conference now
know the answer – OKC is fabulous with a modern upbeat welcoming vibe and
a walkable downtown and beautiful green spaces. The conference venue -the
National Hotel – wowed even the most experienced travelers with its stunning
art deco décor, amazing bars and restaurants, helpful staff and large
comfortable rooms. It was a great conference experience. Thanks, John
Richter, for bringing the conference to OKC!
The Wednesday night Opening Reception, sponsored again this year in fine
style by long-time NAFUSA supporter Guidepost Solutions, was held in the
National Hotel’s Library of Distilled Spirits. The “Library” was built into the
space which formerly housed the massive vault of the building’s original
tenant, the First National Bank. The imaginative and brilliantly lit space was
the perfect backdrop for reuniting with DOJ colleagues and old friends.
After opening remarks by NAFUSA president John Richter and Executive
Director Wendy Goggin, the CLE programming began on Thursday morning
with a presentation on the Intersection of Law, Ethics, and Public Relations in
High Profile Litigation and Investigations. The panel, moderated by Robert
Conrad, former U.S. Attorney WDNC and now Director of the Administrative
Office of the U.S. Courts, was a timely discussion of handling press/public
disclosures from the perspective of public relations experts and lawyers and
the benefits of working together on high profile matters.
The second panel of the day featured current and former DOJ officials
discussing emerging issues in cross-border enforcement and the challenges
facing DOJ, corporations and defense counsel. DOJ’s Director of the Office of
International Affairs and the Chief of the Criminal Division’s Money
Laundering and Asset Forfeiture Recovery Section joined Mark Mendelsohn,
former Deputy Chief of the Fraud Section for this presentation.
Conference attendees enthusiastically responded to the Conversation with
Former Ambassador to Russia, John Sullivan. His remarks were timely, candid
and displayed a wealth of understanding of historical events and how those
events shape the current landscape in Russia, Ukraine and the Middle East
and impact Americans. As one NAFUSA member opined, we learned so much
from him and could have happily listened to him speak all afternoon.
On Thursday afternoon, conference attendees were treated to tours of the
Oklahoma City National Memorial and Museum which was a short walk from
the conference hotel. The Museum is a powerful reminder of the tragedy of the
bombing of the Murrah Federal Building on April 19, 1995, in which 168 people
were killed. The tour featured the Survivor’s Wall, a tribute to the more than
600 people who survived the blast. Many NAFUSA members have personal
recollections of the horrors of that day or were involved with the investigations
and trials which followed. For those, and all the attendees who visited the
Museum, it was a sobering experience.
The program continued Friday morning after Thursday evening’s class dinners
at various OKC restaurants and night spots. Gary Restaino, USA Arizona and
vice-chair of the AGAC joined then Acting EOUSA Director Norm Wong for an
update on DOJ issues along with insight on USA staffing challenges. This was
followed by the annual Supreme Court Review, presented by Ethan Davis of
King & Spalding.
The last panel presentation was moderated by NAFUSA vice president
Catherine Hanaway and featured speakers with impressive backgrounds and
extraordinary breadth of knowledge on the topic of generative AI and its
ethical and practical uses in legal practice. After the presentation, the panel
fielded questions which demonstrated the importance of these issues to our
membership.
The final presentation of the morning before the general meeting and election
of officers and new board members, was the presentation of the J. Michael
Bradford Award. The remarks given by award members in the past have been
conference highlights and this year was no different. John Romano, AUSA DNJ
received the award from NAFUSA Secretary Tim Purdon, and then captured
the respect and admiration of conference attendees with his extraordinary case review of United States v Jackson, “Finding Justice After a Decade of
Prosecutions…”
The conference ended Friday night with a delicious dinner at Vast Restaurant,
the best view in Oklahoma and entertaining remarks by new board member
Scott Schools.
Longtime NAFUSA member Donna Bucella was elected the 2024-2025 NAFUSA President at the general meeting in Oklahoma City (OKC) on September 27, 2024. Donna has been an active NAFUSA member, Director and Officer and, most recently, served as President Elect. She has successfully held a number of prestigious positions, both within government and in the public sector. She is currently Chief Compliance Officer for 7-Eleven, the largest convenience store chain in the United States.
Donna was appointed by President Clinton and unanimously confirmed by the U.S. Senate as U.S. Attorney (USA) for the Middle District of Florida in 1999 and was the first U.S. Senate confirmed female USA in the State of Florida. Prior to that she led the Executive Office for United States Attorneys (EOUSA) as Director from 1997-1999 after holding other leadership positions within that agency.
Donna is a graduate of the University of Miami School of Law and received a B.A. from the University of Virginia. After graduating law school, she served in the United States Army Judge Advocate General’s Corps on active duty from 1984-1987, followed by membership in the Army Reserve until 2008 when she retired with the rank of Colonel.
In addition to her positions within the Department of Justice, Donna held leadership
positions with the Transportation Security Administration and was recruited by then FBI
Director Roert Mueller to create the Terrorist Screening Center, a multi-government agency post 9/11 for consolidating the U.S. Government’s approach to terrorist screening. From 2010 -2013 she served as Assistant Commissioner, Office of Intelligence and Investigative Liaison with U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP). While in this position she was the recipient of the Presidential Rank Award.
Donna practiced law in firms in Miami, Florida, and Washington, D.C. and held positions
with the Bank of America, Perot Systems, Education Management Corporation and
Guidepost Solutions, L.L.C. where she was President, Compliance. She is the recipient of numerous awards including the U.S. Attorney General’s Exceptional Service Award, the highest award given by the Attorney General.
NAFUSA is fortunate to have such a highly qualified and committed former U.S. Attorney as our president for 2024-2025. She announced in OKC that the 2025 NAFUSA Annual Conference will be October 8-10, 2025 in Washington, D.C. at the Willard Hotel. It will be great!
Newly elected NAFUSA Board of Directors member Scott Schools has recently been
appointed Chief Compliance Officer for OpenAI, an artificial intelligence research and
deployment organization founded in 2015, headquartered in San Francisco. Scott served as the US Attorney for the Northern District of California 2007-2008 and South Carolina February 2001 to November 2001, as well as Associate Deputy Attorney General at the U.S.Department of Justice from January 2008 to February 2013. Most recently he was employed as Chief Ethics and Compliance Officer at Uber Technologies.
Scott was the keynote speaker at the NAFUSA 2024 Annual Conference in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. In a conversation with then NAFUSA president John Richter at the conference’s closing dinner on Friday night, Scott described the importance of the role he held as the DOJ’s senior career official for over five years, a position held for many years prior to that by David Margolis. In that capacity he advised Attorneys General and Deputy Attorneys General on significant DOJ matters with a focus on ethics and professional responsibility.
United States Attorneys met for the last U.S. Attorneys Conference of the Biden
administration in Washington, D.C. earlier this month. U.S. Attorneys have met in similar
conferences in D.C. since 1939. The 2024 U.S. Attorneys Conference, held at Main DOJ, was a two and a half day meeting beginning on Tuesday, September 10th with most Districts represented. It was, as NAFUSA members most likely recall from their own days as U.S. Attorneys, an opportunity to get together with colleagues from other districts whom they have met through work on cases or interaction on AGAC subcommittees. We hope they continue to maintain these relationships through NAFUSA membership!
The Conference consisted, in large measure, of presentations highlighting progress and
challenges over the past year addressing program areas including violent crime, fentanyl and other drug cases. It is no surprise that significant attention was focused on increased efforts to ensure maintaining election integrity.
The conference culminated with an address by Attorney General Merrick Garland (AG) on Thursday in the Great Hall. He thanked the more than 115,000 Department of Justice employees for their work on behalf of the American people and for their “ironclad
commitment to the principles of fairness and impartiality that have long guided it…”
The title and theme of the AG’s remarks was “An Independent Justice Department”
reminding prosecutors of the enormous power they hold as federal prosecutors and the
responsibility that comes with it. He also talked about his first job at the Justice
Department working for Attorney General Civiletti in which he assisted on a project to
formalize a set of norms to guide the work of the DOJ. The result was Principles of Federal Prosecution first published in 1980 and now a main fixture in the U.S. Attorneys Manual.
The full text of the Attorney General’s remarks as delivered can be found on the attached link:
W.J. Michael (Mike) Cody who served under President Jimmy Carter as the United States Attorney for the Western District of Tennessee from 1977 to 1981, died in his hometown of Memphis, Tennessee on Sunday, September 15, 2024, after a long illness. He was 88.
Although he was a well-known and influential progressive Democrat, Cody’s service
transcended partisan politics, and he was well respected by both parties. He was
appointed Attorney General of Tennessee in 1984, a position he held for four years, by then governor, Lamar Alexander, a Republican. He was later appointed by Democratic governor Phil Bredesen to co-chair the Tennessee Commission on Ethics.
Nor did he play partisan politics while serving as U.S. Attorney. In 1980 his office indicted Democratic State Representative Emmitt Ford on insurance fraud charges. Ford, who was sent to prison upon conviction, was the brother of Memphis Congressman Harold Ford for whom Cody had served as campaign coordinator in 1974. Cody partnered with prosecutors in the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Nashville to bring bid-rigging charges against members of Governor Ray Blanton’s family, involving Blanton-owned construction companies. The corruption was later dramatized in the movie “Marie” starring Sissy Spacek as a whistle blower in the then governor’s office.
Cody figured prominently in the history and politics of Tennessee during his long career. He was one of six lawyers representing Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. during his 1968 Memphis visit. In fact, he met with Dr. King at the Lorraine Motel not long before King was assassinated while in the city to support striking sanitation workers. Following Dr, King’s death, Cody and Memphis pastor James Lawson formed a neighborhood legal services operation to offer free aid to the sanitation workers. The organization expanded into what is now known as Memphis Legal Services.
Cody graduated from Rhodes College in 1958 and received his law degree from the
University of Virginia in 1961. He was an avid runner who participated in many Boston
Marathons and was an avid reader. He served on the boards of several high-profile
organizations, including the National Civil Rights Museum, and he was often hired as
technical advisor on Hollywood legal thrillers, including “The Firm” with Tom Cruise. He was the local legal representative for the Rolling Stones when they performed at the Liberty Bowl in Memphis in 1994.
In 2012, Cody stepped in as the keynote speaker at the NAFUSA annual conference in
Atlanta when the scheduled speaker unexpectedly became ill. According to then Executive Director Rich Rossman, Cody gave “…one of the most memorable speeches ever heard at the annual meetings.” Rossman added, “Cody’s intense description of the last two days of Dr. King’s life affected everyone in the room.”
Cody was devoted to his family. He is survived by his wife of 42 years, Susanna; two
daughters, Jane Cody and Mia Cody; a son, Michael Cody; three grandchildren and two
great-grandchildren.
In keeping with NAFUSA tradition, a flag was flown over the Department of Justice on
Tuesday, September 17, 2024, in his honor and will be presented to his family.
NAFUSA is pleased to announce the 2024 winner of the J. Michael Bradford
Memorial Award – Assistant United States Attorney (AUSA) John F. Romano
from the District of New Jersey. John was selected from an outstanding group of nominees from U.S. Attorney offices across the country because of his outstanding advocacy in United States v. Jackson, a case involving two
defendants’ horrifying treatment of three foster children between the ages of
2-months and 4-years old while living at the Picatinny Arsenal and elsewhere.
The jury heard overwhelming evidence of gut-wrenching abuse and neglect
against the three children, causing them life threatening injuries. Despite the
defendants’ grievous conduct, the originally assigned district judge imposed
sentences so lenient that the Solicitor General authorized three affirmative
appeals and two requests for reassignment. AUSA Romano prevailed in all
three appeals, which included two oral arguments, while securing
reassignment to another district judge in the third appeal. He handled three
resentencing hearings before the District Court, two before the originally
assigned district judge and then before the reassigned district judge. Finally,
he successfully moved for summary action to foreclose the defendants from
challenging their convictions on appeal. That motion was granted in January
2024.
After reviewing the nomination submitted by U.S. Attorney Phillip Sellinger, the NAFUSA Board of Directors found that AUSA Romano’s continuous and
dogged efforts to seek justice for these vulnerable victims exemplifies his
devotion to the mission of the Department of Justice and has voted to award
him the Bradford Award for 2024. The Award will be presented by NAFUSA
Secretary Tim Purdon at the NAFUSA Conference in Oklahoma City on
September 27, 2024, and AUSA Romano will deliver remarks about the
Jackson prosecution which included two long trials, as well as exhausting
pretrial and post-trial proceedings. According to USA Sellinger, for more than
nine years John Romano played a pivotal role in the effort to secure justice for
the victims in this case.
Each of this year’s candidates for the Bradford Award exemplified the high
standards and commitment to justice that the Bradford Award honors. The
decision wasn’t easy. The following AUSAs were nominated by their offices for the award based on their outstanding service to the Department of Justice
and each has received an award from NAFUSA, thanks to the generosity of
former NAFUSA president Ed Dowd:
Audrey B. Hemesath
Eastern District of California
Melanie K. Pierson
Southern District of California
Brian Dunn
District of Colorado
Jocelyn Courtney Kaoutzanis
District of Connecticut
Gregory Rosen
District of Columbia
Rachelle DesVaux Bedke
Middle District of Florida
Ron Timmons
Northern District of Iowa
Christopher M. O’Connor
Western District of Michigan
Michael J. Goldberger
Eastern District of New York
Catherine Mirabile
Eastern District of New York
Lara Pomerantz
Southern District of New York
Robert Yalen
Southern District of New York
Kathryn Risinger
Middle District of Tennessee
Ahmed Safeeullah
Middle District of Tennessee
Ben Schrader
Middle District of Tennessee
Adrian Garcia
Eastern District of Texas
Carmen Castillo Mitchell
Southern District of Texas
Artificial intelligence is everywhere, whether we like it or not, and apparently
it’s here to stay. NAFUSA is very excited to host a panel of experts at our
annual conference in Oklahoma City on how AI impacts legal practice. They
will delve into the ethical and practical uses of generative AI in legal practice
beginning with the question “How are Lawyers using AI today and what will the
near future bring?” Catherine Hanaway, Partner and former Chair of Husch
Blackwell and NAFUSA Vice President, will moderate the panel discussion
which includes the question of whether lawyers actually have an ethical
obligation to use AI and what that obligation looks like.
Panel members include Julie Myers Wood, CEO of Guidepost Solutions
International, a leading investigations, compliance, monitoring and security
firm, and long-time NAFUSA friend and sponsor. She has a particular interest
and expertise in how technology and artificial intelligence is transforming
compliance.
Also on the panel is NAFUSA Board member Jay Town, Vice President and
General Counsel of Gray Analytics, a cybersecurity risk management firm
focusing on challenging technical problems with offices in Huntsville,
Alabama and Los Angeles. Joining them is Justin Helms, the Artificial
Intelligence Solutions Strategist at Husch Blackwell. A licensed attorney, he
helps drive AI technology development and application to transform legal
practice and business operations.
The last panel member is Valerie McConnell, the Senior Director of
CoCounsel Customer Success at Thompson Reuters where she uses her
litigation and computer science background to advise lawyers on how to
leverage artificial intelligence in their practices. She is a frequent speaker on
the application of generative AI to solve problems in legal workflow and we are
thrilled to welcome her and the other panel members.
In addition to the discussion of ethical issues surrounding the use of – or
failure to use – AI, this highly experienced and talented panel will suggest
specific practical uses of AI in legal practice from conducting legal research to responding to discovery requests. We look forward to their presentation on
Friday morning, September 27 in OKC!
The 2024 NAFUSA Conference’s CLE program will open on Thursday morning,
September 26, with a panel of outstanding speakers delving into the high
stakes issues that lawyers and public relations professionals should consider
in high profile litigation and investigations. The topic could not be timelier.
News outlets and social media for the past year – and more – have inundated
the public with accounts of legal entanglements involving public officials,
movie and reality TV stars, and events, often tragic, of wide public interest.
The panel, composed of experienced legal and public relations professionals
highly skilled in dealing with the legal and ethical issues that arise in these
types of cases, will provide a detailed look at these issues and discuss
practical considerations and solutions.
The panel discussion is entitled The Intersection of Law, Ethics, and Public
Relations in High Profile Litigation and Investigations. The speakers are truly
outstanding practitioners in law and public relations fields who have dealt
with the complex legal and ethical issues that arise when public scrutiny is
focused on investigations and litigation. NAFUSA is pleased to have on this
panel two highly regarded public relations experts: Mark Corallo, a political
communications and public relations professional who is the co-founder,
along with Barbara Comstock, of Corallo Comstock, a public relations firm;
and Ellen Moskowitz, senior partner of the Brunswick Group and co-leader of
Brunswick’s global litigation communications and crisis practice.
Additionally, we are honored to have two highly skilled and experienced
attorneys on the panel, both of whom are NAFUSA members: Debra Wong
Yang, a partner in Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher’s Los Angeles office and chair of
their Crisis Management Practice Group; and Ronald Machan, partner in
WilmerHale, a member of the firm’s Global Management Committee and
Chair of the firm’s Litigation and Controversy Department. Moderating this
panel of experts is Robert Conrad, former United States Attorney for the
Western District of North Carolina, former District and Senior Judge for the
Western District of North Carolina, and most recently appointed the Director
of the Administrative Office of the United States Courts.
We are pleased and excited to have this august group lead off the program in
Oklahoma City.
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