Six New Members Appointed to Attorney General’s Advisory Committee

Attorney General Loretta E. Lynch announced today the appointment of six new members to the Attorney General’s Advisory Committee.  The following appointments became effective April 29, 2015:

• U.S. Attorney Deirdre Daly for the District of Connecticut;

• U.S. Attorney Steven Dettelbach for the Northern District of Ohio;

• U.S. Attorney Conner Eldridge for the Western District of Arkansas;

• U.S. Attorney Paul Fishman for the District of New Jersey;

• U.S. Attorney Booth Goodwin II for the Southern District of West Virginia; and

• U.S. Attorney Kenneth Polite for the Eastern District of Louisiana.

“The distinguished women and men who serve on the Attorney General’s Advisory Committee provide invaluable advice and wise counsel that help shape the Justice Department’s approach to combating crime, violence, and injustice in every community across the country,” said Attorney General Lynch.  “They help introduce new ideas, formulate innovative policies, and design fresh strategies.  They foster collaboration across our U.S. Attorney’s Offices and with Main Justice.  And, in all of their work, they seek to strengthen and improve law enforcement efforts at every level.  As a former chair of the AGAC, I am proud to welcome six outstanding new members to the Committee, and I look forward to all that we will achieve, with their help, in the days ahead.”

Attorney General Lynch also thanked U.S. Attorney Ronald Sharpe for the District of the Virgin Islands for serving on the Attorney General’s Advisory Committee for the past two years. 

A brief bio on each new appointee is below:

Deirdre Daly was presidentially appointed and sworn in as the U.S. Attorney for the District of Connecticut on May 28, 2014.  Daly previously served as the U.S. Attorney in an acting or interim capacity since May 14, 2013.  Between July 2010 and May 2013, she was the First Assistant U.S. Attorney during which time she assisted in the oversight of both the Criminal and Civil Divisions.  From 1985 to 1997, Daly was an Assistant U.S. Attorney in the Southern District of New York, where she prosecuted a wide range of cases from racketeering and murder to corruption and fraud and later served as the Assistant-In-Charge of White Plains Office for three years.  After leaving the Justice Department, Daly was a partner at Daly & Pavlis LLC, a Connecticut law firm with a practice focused on corporate and commercial litigation, white-collar criminal investigations, SEC enforcement actions and corporate internal investigations and monitoring.

Steven Dettelbach was presidentially appointed and sworn in as the U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Ohio in September 2009.  Dettelbach previously served for over 12 years as a career federal prosecutor.  During those years, he worked at the Department of Justice, Civil Rights Division, Criminal Section, U.S. Attorneys Offices in Maryland and Washington, D.C. and from 2003 to 2006 in the Northern District of Ohio, as a member of the Organized Crime and Corruption Strike Force.  Dettelbach also was detailed to serve as Counsel for the U.S. Senate Committee on the Judiciary from 2001 to 2003.  Formerly, Dettelbach was a partner at the law firm of Baker & Hostetler LLP.

Conner Eldridge was presidentially appointed and sworn in as the U.S. Attorney for the Western District of Arkansas on December 21, 2010.  Eldridge is the youngest U.S. Attorney in the country.  Eldridge serves as co-chair of the Domestic Terrorism Executive Committee, which is composed of twenty law enforcement agencies and Department of Justice components and works to increase collaboration in addressing the threat of Domestic Terrorism.  While serving as U.S. Attorney, Eldridge has tried five cases to jury verdict.  He previously served as a Deputy Prosecuting Attorney in Arkadelphia (Clark County), Arkansas, as Counsel and, later, Chief Executive Officer of Summit Bank, a community bank then serving central and southwest Arkansas, also in Arkadelphia, as a clerk to federal District Judge G. Thomas Eisele and as a legislative assistant to former U.S. Senator Blanche Lincoln and former U.S. Congressman Marion Berry, both of Arkansas. 

Paul Fishman was presidentially appointed and sworn in as the U.S. Attorney for the District of New Jersey on October 14, 2009.  Fishman previously served as a member of the Attorney General's Advisory Committee of U.S. Attorney's (AGAC) from 2009-2013.  He served as Vice-Chair of the AGAC from 2009-2011 and Chair from 2011-2012. After graduating from law school, he clerked for the Honorable Edward R. Becker of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit.  He was an Assistant U.S. Attorney from 1983 to 1994.  From 1994 to 1997, he was a senior adviser to the Attorney General and Deputy Attorney General of the U.S. on a variety of law enforcement, policy, legislative, national security and international matters, as well as on specific investigations and prosecutions.  In addition to his public service, from 1998 - 2009 Fishman was a partner in the law firm of Friedman Kaplan Seiler & Adelman.

Booth Goodwin II was presidentially appointed and sworn in as U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of West Virginia on May 27, 2010.  From January 2001 until he was sworn in as U.S. Attorney, Goodwin was an Assistant U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of West Virginia.  Prior to that, Goodwin practiced for five years with the Charleston law firm of Goodwin & Goodwin, LLP where he engaged in commercial and personal injury litigation, closed multi-million dollar bond transactions, filed reports with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission and handled numerous commercial and residential real estate transactions.    

Kenneth Polite was presidentially appointed and sworn in as U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Louisiana on September 20, 2013. Polite currently serves as a member of the AGAC's Violent and Organized Crime Subcommittee and Smart on Crime Working Group. Prior to becoming U.S. Attorney, Polite was a shareholder at Liskow & Lewis, where he headed the white collar criminal defense group and served as the Firm's hiring partner.  From 2007 to 2010, Polite served as an Assistant U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York.  There, he prosecuted a wide range of federal criminal offenses, including organized crime, public corruption, narcotics and firearms trafficking, money laundering and identity theft.  Polite was an associate at Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom LLP, first in the Delaware office's corporate litigation practice from 2000 to 2001, and later, in the New York office's white collar criminal defense group from 2002 to 2006.

The Attorney General’s Advisory Committee will now include the following individuals:

• U.S. Attorney John F. Walsh for District of Colorado, Chair;

• U.S. Attorney Richard S. Hartunian for the Northern District of New York, Vice Chair;

• U.S. Attorney Michael W. Cotter for the District of Montana;

• U.S. Attorney Deirdre Daly for the District of Connecticut;

• U.S. Attorney Thomas E. Delahanty, II for the District of Maine;

• U.S. Attorney Steven M. Dettelbach for the Northern District of Ohio;

• U.S. Attorney Conner Eldridge for the Western District of Arkansas;

• U.S. Attorney Zachary T. Fardon for the Northern District of Illinois;

• U.S. Attorney Wifredo A. Ferrer for the Southern District of Florida;

• U.S. Attorney Paul J. Fishman for the District of New Jersey;

• U.S. Attorney R. Booth Goodwin II for the Southern District of West Virginia;

• U.S. Attorney Barry R. Grissom for the District of Kansas;

• U.S. Attorney Kerry B. Harvey for the Eastern District of Kentucky;

• U.S. Attorney Barbara L. McQuade for the Eastern District of Michigan;

• U.S. Attorney Zane D. Memeger for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania;

• U.S. Attorney Wendy J. Olson for the District of Idaho;

• U.S. Attorney Kenneth A. Polite for the Eastern District of Louisiana;

• U.S. Attorney Vincent Cohen, Jr. for the District of Columbia, ex officio

• Criminal Chief Thomas Eicher for District of New Jersey, ex officio

• Appellate Chief Sandra Glover for District of Connecticut, ex officio; and

• Civil Chief Thomas Walsh for the Northern District of Illinois, ex officio

The AGAC was created in 1973 to serve as the voice of the U.S. Attorneys and to advise the attorney general on policy, management and operational issues impacting the offices of the U.S. Attorneys.