Former United States Attorney
Justin E. Herdman
Justin Herdman was sworn in as the United States Attorney for the Northern District of Ohio on August 21, 2017. In this position, he leads a staff of nearly 200 employees representing the United States in court in Ohio’s northern 40 counties, including staffed offices in Cleveland, Toledo, Akron and Youngstown.
In 2017, Herdman was appointed to the United States Attorney General’s Advisory Committee of the U.S. Attorneys (AGAC), of which he is currently the Vice-Chair. In this role, Herdman serves as one of fifteen United States Attorneys charged with developing and offering recommendations to improve management, operations, and functions of U.S. Attorneys’ offices nationwide, as well as the Department of Justice. Herdman also serves as the Vice-Chair of the AGAC’s Terrorism & National Security Subcommittee. In 2019, Herdman was appointed to Attorney General Barr’s new working group focused on federal responses to Domestic Violence. Herdman also serves as a Co-Chair of the Attorney General’s Prescription Interdiction and Litigation Task Force, which is responsible for coordinating the Department of Justice’s civil and criminal enforcement efforts to combat prescription pill diversion, fraud, and abuse.
Herdman was an Assistant United States Attorney from 2006 through 2013, serving as both a line assistant and supervisor. During that time, he was responsible for investigating and prosecuting national security crimes, including the successful trial and appeal of a homegrown terror cell that sought to support al Qaeda. He was also part of the prosecution team of five self-proclaimed anarchists convicted of attempting to use explosives to blow up a Cleveland-area bridge.
Immediately prior to becoming U.S. Attorney, Herdman was a partner at Jones Day, where he represented businesses and individuals in civil litigation and under criminal investigation.
Before returning home to the Cleveland area, Herdman was an Assistant District Attorney in New York City, working for the legendary District Attorney for the borough of Manhattan, Robert M. Morgenthau, where Herdman prosecuted a wide range of violent crime and identity theft cases.
He serves as a Judge Advocate in the United States Air Force Reserve and is a former intelligence officer in the United States Navy Reserve. He earned his B.A. from Ohio University, his M.Phil. from the University of Glasgow, and his J.D. from Harvard Law School.
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