Front Office

Jennifer Waier, Chief Assistant United States Attorney

Ms. Waier has dedicated her career to public service having served as an AUSA for more than 20 years. She has served as a Deputy Chief in the USAO’s Orange County Office since October 2018. Ms. Waier has handled nearly every type of federal criminal case, including complex fraud, public corruption, and violent crime. She is one of the most productive prosecutors in the country, charging over 800 defendants during her tenure. Ms. Waier has tried 10 jury trials and argued multiple appeals before the Ninth Circuit. As an example of her trial work, she was part of the trial team that convicted former Major League Baseball player Douglas DeCinces for insider trading; she convicted a DEA Task Force Officer and criminal defense attorney for bribery; and she convicted a doctor for bribing an IRS Revenue Agent.

Beyond her case work, Ms. Waier has served the Office in various coordinator roles, including the Securities Fraud Coordinator, Financial Fraud Coordinator, the SARS Program Coordinator, and the Extern Coordinator for the USAO’s Orange County Branch Office. Since 2018, she has served as a member of the Office’s Hiring Committee. Ms. Waier has been a mentor to numerous AUSAs, past and present. Outside of the Office, she is currently a Board Member for the Orange County Bar Association (“OCBA”), Chair of the OCBA’s Judiciary Committee, and a Mock Trial Coach for Santa Margarita Catholic High School.

Before joining the Office, Ms. Waier was an associate in the Los Angeles and Orange County offices of Jones Day. She received her B.A. from the University of California, Irvine, and her J.D. from the University of San Diego, where she graduated Order of the Coif and founded and served as the first Editor-in-Chief of USD’s International Law Journal.

Richard M. Park, Executive Assistant United States Attorney

Richard M. Park is the Executive Assistant United States Attorney. As part of the senior management team, he leads the day-to-day operations of the litigative and administrative divisions, including supervising approximately 250 non-lawyer staff members, the district’s budget, human resources, information technology, community outreach, and media relations.

Since 2022, he has served as Chief of the Civil Rights Section in the Civil Division where he has helped establish one of the highest performing civil rights units in the country. Under his leadership, the Civil Rights Section opened a multi-district investigation into staff sexual misconduct at the California women’s prisons, settled numerous cases alleging discrimination against women, servicemembers, and individuals with disabilities, filed high-impact statements of interest and summary judgment motions, and obtained the largest settlement of a redlining case in DOJ history. The Civil Rights Section also strengthened our office’s local connections by holding community stakeholder meetings in Los Angeles, Riverside, and Santa Ana, convening small group meetings with faith leaders and hosting a religious land use conference at Chapman Law School.

Prior to his work in the Civil Rights Section, Richard served as Chief of the Financial Litigation Section and deputy chief in the General Civil (now Complex and Defensive Litigation) Section where he oversaw line AUSAs in a wide range of litigation involving the United States, its agencies, and officers. He is an experienced trial attorney, litigating hundreds of cases through all phases of litigation through trial, and has served as an instructor in litigation at the DOJ’s National Advocacy Center. In 2017, he received an EOUSA Director’s Award for his work with the California state courts in expanding access to free, certified interpreters in civil matters.

Richard graduated Pomona College with degree in Philosophy, Politics, and Economics. During college, he participated in Army ROTC and graduated from Army Airborne School at Ft. Benning. He attended Seoul National University for graduate school as Rotary Ambassadorial Scholar. He graduated from the UCLA Law School, where he participated in the Public Interest Law and Policy Program and the Moot Court Honors program, and started his legal career at Sidley Austin LLP.

Kathy Yu, Chief of Ethics and Post-Conviction Review

Kathy Yu joined the Office in February 2016 and currently serves as Senior Litigation Counsel. Since becoming an Assistant United States Attorney, Ms. Yu has prosecuted some of the Office’s most significant violent crime cases. She has tried eleven cases to verdict. Her case work includes the prosecution of a 51-defendant RICO case involving gang murders, assaults, extortion, drug trafficking, and money laundering. During three trials that resulted from this prosecution, Ms. Yu obtained convictions against a Mexican Mafia member and five other gang members, which were subsequently affirmed on appeal. Most recently, Ms. Yu was part of the team that charged and obtained guilty pleas from four Florencia 13 gang members and associates for murdering an LAPD officer as he shopped for a home with his girlfriend. Ms. Yu also has extensive experience prosecuting child exploitation cases, having obtained life sentences against a predator who targeted dozens of children in the Philippines and a human trafficker who recruited and exploited children from foster homes.

In 2020, Ms. Yu received the Los Angeles County Bar Association Prosecutor of the Year Award. She serves on the Office’s Community Outreach and Service Committee. Ms. Yu received her B.A., summa cum laude, from the University of California, San Diego, and her law degree from the University of California, Berkeley School of Law (Order of the Coif).