Annette L. Hayes Appointed Acting United States Attorney for the Western District of Washington

            The Executive Office of United States Attorneys has selected Annette L. Hayes to serve as Acting United States Attorney pending the appointment and confirmation of a presidentially appointed United States Attorney for the Western District of Washington.  Ms. Hayes has served as the First Assistant United States Attorney since 2010.  In that role she has been second-in-command of the U.S. Attorney’s Office and a key leader in both criminal and civil litigation in the office.  Ms. Hayes takes over from Jenny A. Durkan, who stepped down yesterday.

            Annette L. Hayes joined the U.S. Attorney’s Office in 1997 as an Assistant United States Attorney in the Criminal Division. She was assigned to prosecute a range of drug cases including large-scale, international trafficking and cartel related cases.  In 2002, she became the Deputy Supervisor of the Complex Crimes Unit where she prosecuted cyber hacking and intellectual property cases while working with law enforcement on outreach to the private sector.  In 2005, she became one of the supervisors of the General Crimes Unit where she worked closely with and trained many new attorneys on a range of federal crimes including child exploitation, drug, fraud, identity theft, immigration and violent crimes cases.

            Prior to joining the U.S. Attorney’s Office, Ms. Hayes spent her first six years as an attorney handling a variety of civil litigation matters at law firms in Seattle and Washington, D.C.

            Ms. Hayes is a graduate of Cornell Law School and Williams College.