What are you looking forward to most about returning to private practice?
I look forward to being able to once again represent a variety of clients, many of whom face very difficult or complex legal problems, and to providing advice and guidance to such clients based on my experience both inside and outside of government. I am also very excited to be joining Bracewell & Giuliani, a preeminent international law firm with a Connecticut office consisting of outstanding lawyers and great people.
It seems like a waste that somebody with your experience has to leave government service. We take our top federal prosecutors and tell them to hit the road when a new president is elected. How can people with your talent and connections stay in government at the highest levels without being subject to political appointment?
While I appreciate your sentiment, I believe every president should, through political appointments, be able to select his own team, whether at the Department of Justice or at other cabinet agencies. There is no shortage of outstanding lawyers who are willing and able to serve in these positions and I have no doubt that President Obama will put together a first-rate leadership team at the Department of Justice. Those selected will have the benefit of serving alongside thousands of dedicated and accomplished career department employees who, more than any political appointee, are responsible for the all of the department’s accomplishments.
You managed to come out of the Bush Justice Department with your reputation strongly intact. How did you do it?
I was truly fortunate in both Connecticut and Washington to work with outstanding lawyers and public servants who I tried to support in any manner that I could. On a daily basis, these individuals make very difficult decisions and do so based solely on what is best for the Department of Justice and not on any other basis. In the various positions that I held in the Department of Justice I tried to model myself after them and I hope that I succeeded in doing so.
What do you think you’ll miss most about being number 3 in the Justice Department, besides the people? After all, everybody says they won’t miss the work, but they will miss the people.
Actually, I will miss both the work and the people. As any Department of Justice lawyer will tell you, there is something very special about being able to stand up in court and tell a judge or a jury that you represent the United States of America.
Why Bracewell Giuliani and why return to Hartford? Your background seems to have you primed for at least New York, if not Washington, D.C.
I joined Bracewell & Giuliani because of the firm’s outstanding reputation, not just in Connecticut but across the country and internationally. The firm’s established litigation, white collar, restructuring and hedge fund practices all afford unique opportunities for me to apply the skills that I have developed through my government service to assist clients in Connecticut as well as in other parts of the country and the world.
Bracewell’s Hartford team, particularly Evan Flaschen as the leader of financial restructuring and John Brunjes and the fund formation practice that he heads, is highly regarded and will provide many opportunities as we work together to expand our practices.
While I did consider other opportunities in New York City and Washington, my wife, children and I are very attached to the Hartford area (where I have lived most of my life) and we hoped to remain here if we could.
Is politics still in your future? Or, is your future devoted solely to white collar defense work?
My primary focus at this time is on my transition back to private practice at Bracewell where I hope to handle both white collar and commercial litigation matters. Outside of work and family time, I plan to remain involved in community affairs, including politics.
What was your most memorable prosecution in Connecticut?
As United States Attorney, I observed closely the great work done by assistant United States attorneys on a wide variety of criminal and civil matters in Connecticut. It would be difficult, if not impossible, to deem any one of those matters as my most memorable since every one of them had an impact in some way on the community we served.
