Former U.S. Attorney Erin Nealy Cox

Former U.S. Attorney Erin Nealy Cox

Northern District of Texas

Sworn into office on November 17, 2017, United States Attorney Erin Nealy Cox is the chief federal law enforcement officer in the Northern District of Texas, which covers 100 counties, more than 96,000 square miles, and a population of approximately eight million.  Appointed by the President and confirmed by the U.S. Senate, she is responsible for all federal criminal prosecutions and civil litigation involving the United States in her district. As U.S. Attorney, Ms. Nealy Cox oversees a staff of approximately 120 attorneys and a similar number of non-attorney support personnel assigned among five division offices. 

In March of 2018, Ms. Nealy Cox was appointed by Attorney General Jeff Sessions to be a member of the Attorney General’s Advisory Committee (AGAC). Created in 1973, the AGAC is a group of 15 U.S. Attorneys advising the Attorney General on matters of policy and substantive issues affecting the Justice Department. In Feburary 2020, Ms. Nealy Cox was promoted by Attorney General William Barr to Chair of the AGAC.

Prior to her appointment as U.S. Attorney, Ms. Cox worked as a Senior Advisor at McKinsey & Co. in the cybersecurity and risk practice. She also served on the Board of Directors of Sally Beauty Holdings, a large retailer on the NYSE. From 1999 to 2008, Ms. Nealy Cox served as an Assistant United States Attorney in the Northern District of Texas, where she prosecuted cyber crimes, white collar crimes, and general crimes. In 2004 and 2005, she served at Main Justice as chief of staff and senior counsel to the Assistant Attorney General in the Office of Legal Policy. From 2008 to 2016, Ms. Nealy Cox was a member of the executive leadership team at Stroz Friedberg, a cybersecurity and investigations consulting firm, ultimately leading the firm’s global incident response business. Ms. Nealy Cox clerked for the Honorable Henry A. Politz, when he served as Chief Judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit, and the Honorable Barefoot Sanders, United States District Judge in the Northern District of Texas.

Ms. Nealy Cox received her J.D., magna cum laude, from Southern Methodist University Dedman School of Law and her B.B.A. in finance from the McCombs School of Business at the University of Texas at Austin. She is a member of the Texas and New York Bar Associations.

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