Ronald C. Machen Jr.
Ronald C. Machen Jr. was nominated to serve as United States Attorney for the District of Columbia by President Barack Obama on December 24, 2009. Mr. Machen’s appointment was confirmed by the United States Senate on February 11, 2010.
Before Mr. Machen’s appointment, he was a partner at the law firm of Wilmer, Cutler, Pickering, Hale and Dorr and practiced in the firm’s Investigations and Criminal Litigation group. While at the firm, Mr. Machen represented individuals and corporations in the areas of white-collar criminal defense, regulatory enforcement, corporate compliance, and complex civil litigation. He also maintained an active pro bono practice, served on the firm’s Compensation and Executive Committees, and co-chaired the firm’s Diversity Committee.
Before practicing at WilmerHale, Mr. Machen served as an Assistant U.S. Attorney in the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia from 1997 to 2001. In that role, Mr. Machen was responsible for representing the United States in a wide range of criminal matters in both the local and federal court systems of the District of Columbia. He conducted grand jury investigations and prosecuted matters involving homicide, bribery, robbery, mail fraud, government contracts fraud, illegal firearms possession, theft, and narcotics distribution. Mr. Machen has significant trial experience in both the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia and the Superior Court of the District of Columbia, and has argued and briefed numerous appeals before the D.C. Court of Appeals and the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit. While serving as an Assistant U.S. Attorney, Mr. Machen received numerous Special Achievement Awards from the Department of Justice.
Mr. Machen joined the U.S. Attorney’s Office in 1997 after having served as a law clerk to the Honorable Damon J. Keith, U.S. Court of Appeals Judge for the Sixth Circuit. Mr. Machen graduated from Stanford University in 1991 and Harvard Law School in 1994.
A former co-chair of the Criminal Litigation Committee of the American Bar Association, Mr. Machen has taught trial advocacy skills to practicing lawyers as part of the D.C. Bar’s Continuing Legal Education Program and to students at Howard University School of Law. He has served on the board of the Council for Court Excellence and is a member of the Edward Bennett Williams Inn of Court, the National Bar Association, and several other local and federal bar associations.
During his career, Mr. Machen has been repeatedly recognized for his professional accomplishments. In 2008, the National Law Journal named him one of the “50 Most Influential Minority Lawyers in America.” In 2007, The American Lawyer identified him as one of the “50 Most Promising Litigators in America Under the Age of 45,” and in 2006, the Washingtonian magazine named him one of D.C.’s “Top 40 Lawyers Under 40.”
