Prerak Shah

Former Acting U.S. Attorney Prerak Shah

Northern District of Texas

Prerak Shah was named the Acting United States Attorney for the Northern District of Texas on January 10, 2021. He is the chief federal law enforcement officer for the district, which covers 100 counties, more than 96,000 square miles, and a population of approximately eight million people. Mr. Shah oversees a staff of approximately 250 people across five division offices and is responsible for all federal criminal prosecutions and civil litigation involving the United States in his district.

Prior to serving as Acting U.S. Attorney, Mr. Shah held multiple senior leadership roles at the Department of Justice, including Deputy Associate Attorney General in the office overseeing the civil and criminal work of the Department’s Antitrust, Civil, Civil Rights, Environment & Natural Resources, and Tax divisions. He also served as the Deputy Assistant Attorney General in charge of the Department’s Natural Resources Section, directly supervising approximately 75 trial lawyers in high profile investigations and trials across the country.

Before joining the Justice Department, Mr. Shah served as chief of staff and chief counsel to Senator Ted Cruz, Senior Counsel to the Attorney General of Texas, as an Assistant Solicitor General of Texas, and as a litigator at a law firm in Dallas.

Mr. Shah received his law degree with honors from the University of Chicago Law School. After law school, he clerked for the Honorable Jerry E. Smith of the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit.