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The investiture ceremony for Connecticut U.S. Attorney David Fein drew a large audience and high-powered speakers to New Haven, Conn., Monday.

David Fein (Wiggin and Dana)

The ceremony — held at Yale Law School where Fein has been a visiting lecturer since 1999 — featured Attorney General Eric Holder.

Holder praised the new U.S. Attorney for his past achievements as a prosecutor in the Southern District of New York and his promise to target financial fraud.

“Just as surely as New York has benefited from David’s work, I have every confidence that his commitments to public integrity and to public safety will make an important difference for people and communities across this state as well,� Holder said, according to the New Haven Register.

Fein began his duties as U.S. Attorney two months ago. But U.S. Attorneys often have a ceremonial investiture later on, with local, state and federal leaders in attendance.

Fein replaced Nora Dannehy, who has served as acting U.S. Attorney since 2006 when U.S. Attorney Kevin O’Connor was named Justice Department Chief of Staff by former Attorney General Alberto Gonzales.

Fein worked as a partner at Wiggin and Dana in New Haven for more than a decade before taking up public service as a lawyer in the Clinton White House.

He later served as an Assistant U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York from 1989 to 1995. Mary Jo White, the former U.S. Attorney for the Southern District who was Fein’s boss, attended the ceremony.

In remarks during the ceremony, Fein highlighted his plan to reorganize the Connecticut U.S. Attorney’s office — which is currently separated into three branch offices in Bridgeport, Hartford and New Haven.

“There is every reason for us to work together as one district,� he said. “In the weeks ahead, we will be moving away from geographic supervision to programmatic supervision so [Assistant U.S. Attorneys] have the benefit of counsel and mentoring from senior prosecutors steeped in their substantive areas.�

Fein also signaled his intent to aggressively pursue financial and securities fraud investigations. Connecticut is home to the third largest number of hedge funds in the world, behind New York City and London, he said.

“We will be partnering with other state and federal regulators and enforcement agencies … in investigating and prosecuting sophisticated financial crime that has caused and continues to cause so much harm to investors, capital markets and our nation’s economy,â€� he said.

The ceremony Monday marked the tenth investiture Holder has attended. He is also expected to attend the ceremonial investiture of Wifredo Ferrer, the U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of Florida, later this week.