Arent Fox LLP announced Tuesday that it had brought in four new partners to the firm’s white collar defense practice, including former U.S. Attorney for the Central District of California Terree Bowers and former Assistant U.S. Attorney Mary Carter Andrues, who headed the Public Corruption and Civil Rights Section in California’s Central District.

The other two additions are Andrew Kaizer, and Peter Unger, according to the firm’s news release. Kaizer was a partner at Michelman & Robinson LLP in New York while Andrues, Bowers, and Unger were previously with Howrey. Bowers and Andrues will work out of the firm’s Los Angeles office, Unger out of the Washington, D.C. office, while Kaizer will be based in New York City.

According to the Blog of Legal Times, the additions come less than a week after three white-collar defense lawyers, including practice chair John Nassikas III, departed Arent Fox for Arnold & Porter LLP.

The full news release is below:

WASHINGTON, LOS ANGELES and NEW YORK — March 16 , 2010 — Arent Fox LLP announced today a major expansion of its white collar defense practice with the addition of four new partners to the firm’s Washington, DC, New York and Los Angeles offices, including the former US Attorney for the Central District of California and a former Assistant US Attorney who headed the Public Corruption and Civil Rights Section in California’s Central District. Terree Bowers, Mary Carter Andrues, Peter Unger and Andrew D. Kaizer all join Arent Fox as partners. Bowers and Andrues will be residents at the firm’s Los Angeles office, Unger in its Washington, DC, office and Kaizer in the firm’s New York City office.

“The addition of these lawyers is a significant step forward to our strategic goal of expanding a national white collar criminal defense and financial fraud practice. This is just the first of a series of moves we will be making in this practice area,” said firm chairman Mark M. Katz in Washington, DC. “Terree Bowers, Mary Carter Andrues, Peter Unger and Andrew Kaizer are four of the most respected and accomplished trial attorneys in the United States, adding remarkable strength to our white collar defense and litigation practices. They bring to our firm a unique and highly coveted blend of courtroom experience, talent, skill and knowledge encompassing a broad spectrum of white collar defense litigation, including securities and commodities enforcement, health care fraud, the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, RICO and export control cases.”

Terree Bowers is the former US Attorney for the Central District of California. He received the prestigious Attorney General’s Award for Distinguished Service and has been honored by three United States Attorneys General and one Canadian for his outstanding work in a variety of fields. During his tenure, he established and chaired the first Telemarketing/Investment Fraud Task Force in the country. He also created and led the Financial Institutions Fraud Task Force for the Los Angeles area. He later served as the Chief Deputy City Attorney for Los Angeles, supervising more than 525 attorneys. In 1994, the Department of Justice selected Mr. Bowers to serve as a US representative on the Yugoslavia War Crimes Tribunal (ICTY). He traveled to Bosnia at the height of the Yugoslav conflict to investigate allegations of genocide and helped present the international arrest warrant case against Radovan Karadzic and Ratko Mladic. He is an accomplished trial and appellate lawyer with over 30 years of experience in supervising and litigating complex commercial, white collar and regulatory cases in the areas of securities fraud, banking and financial institutions, civil rights actions, political corruption issues, government contracting, health care fraud, pharmaceutical testing issues, environmental criminal and regulatory matters, false claims, customs, tax fraud, antitrust issues, insurance coverage and a variety of other complex litigation matters.

Mary Carter Andrues focuses on white collar criminal defense, internal corporate investigations, international and domestic regulatory compliance and enforcement and complex commercial litigation. Ms. Andrues was an Assistant US Attorney in the Central District of California, where she served as the Chief of the Public Corruption and Civil Rights Section; Deputy Chief of the Public Corruption and Government Fraud Section; and as Health Care Fraud Coordinator. She served on the US Department of Justice, Attorney General’s Advisory Committee and Health Care Fraud Subcommittee. Ms. Andrues received the Attorney General’s Director’s Award for her role as the lead federal prosecutor in the LAPD Rampart Investigation. Ms. Andrues has over 20 years of trial experience and handles matters involving the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, including investigations by the Justice Department and the Securities and Exchange Commission. Her practice also focuses on areas of government contract and procurement fraud, improper gifts, gratuities and kickbacks, violations of federal export control laws, including the Arms Export Control Act, International Traffic in Arms Regulations, International Emergency Economic Powers Act and the Export Administration Act. She regularly served as an instructor to federal law enforcement agencies and at the US Department of Justice, National Advocacy Training Center.

Peter Unger’s practice focuses on representing parties in investigations and litigations conducted primarily by the Securities and Exchange Commission, self-regulatory organizations and state securities regulators; conducting internal investigations; providing crisis management; and counseling advice to public and private companies on their obligations under federal securities laws. Mr. Unger provides compliance counsel and advice on the Foreign Corrupt Compliance Act (FCPA), defending FCPA investigations and conducting FCPA due diligence of potential agents or business partners worldwide. His client base includes oil service companies, the financial services industry and pharmaceutical companies. Prior to entering private practice, he served as a law clerk to the Honorable Norman C. Roettger Jr., former Chief Judge of the United States District Court for the Southern District of Florida, and as an attorney in the SEC’s Division of Enforcement. Mr. Unger served on the Global Litigation Section’s Securities Litigation, Government Enforcement and White Collar Defense practice management group at his former firm.

Andrew D. Kaizer’s practice focuses on white-collar criminal defense, securities and commodities enforcement, investigations by federal, state, and private-sector regulators and law enforcement officials in the United States and abroad, internal investigations, hedge fund and broker-dealer regulatory compliance, and complex commercial civil litigation, including class action and RICO matters. At Arent Fox, Mr. Kaizer will continue to provide counseling and trial representation in criminal, complex commercial disputes, regulatory, and corporate governance matters, to individuals, corporate board members, and organizations in a variety of industries, with an emphasis on the financial sector, including private, investment, and commercial banks, investment advisors and hedge funds, investment companies, broker-dealers and Big Four accounting firms. Prior to joining Arent Fox on February 25, Mr. Kaiser was with a national law firm in New York and served as co-chair of that firm’s commercial and business litigation department.

The arrival of the four new partners is the latest development in a major expansion of Arent Fox’s national litigation practice in 2010. In February, the firm announced a highly respected six attorney team from Venable LLP, including partners Aaron Jacoby, John Bronstein and Richard Buckley, and lateral hire Harry Johnson from Jones Day had joined the firm’s Los Angeles office. Earlier in the month, Thor Hearne, the former managing partner of Lathrop & Gage in St. Louis, joined Arent Fox’s litigation practice in Washington, DC.

Andre Birotte Jr. (gov)

Andre Birotte Jr. was sworn in as the U.S. Attorney for the Central District of California Thursday morning during a private ceremony, according to a news release.

Birotte, the former inspector general of the Los Angeles Police Department, replaced Thomas P. O’Brien, who resigned Sept. 1, 2009, to join the white-collar criminal defense practice in the Los Angeles offices of the Paul Hastings law firm. The Los Angeles-based district’s most recent acting U.S. Attorney wass George S. Cardona.

U.S. District Judge Terry J. Hatter Jr. administered the oath in his Los Angeles courtroom.

After the ceremony, Birotte said, “It is my great pleasure to be leading what is widely considered to be one of the nation’s premier public law firms,” adding, “This United States Attorney’s Office has a long tradition of handling some of the most significant cases in the nation, and my goal is to further enhance that tradition.”

The Los Angeles-based U.S. Attorney’s office is the largest outside of the District of Columbia.

The Senate Judiciary Committee has added six nominations to the agenda for its Thursday business meeting — three U.S. Attorney nominees and three controversial figures nominated to be Assistant Attorneys General.

Andre Birotte Jr. (gov)

Ron Machen (Wilmer Hale)

The three U.S. Attorney nominees are Andre Birotte Jr. (Central District of California), Richard Hartunian (Northern District of New York) and Ronald Machen (District of Columbia). All three were nominated Dec. 23. Read more about Birotte here. Read more about Hartunian here. Read more about Machen here.

The agenda also includes three high ranking Justice Department appointees whose nominations were not acted on by the Senate last year and whose nominations were returned to the White House at the end of last year’s session — Mary L. Smith to head the Justice Department’s Tax Division, Christopher Schroeder to head the Office of Legal Policy and Dawn Johnsen, to head the Office of Legal Counsel. President Obama re-nominated the three earlier this month.

Dawn Johnsen (Indiana University)

Although the names of Smith, Schroeder and Johnsen were placed on this week’s agenda, committee Republicans have the right to delay action for a week.

The panel’s top Republican, Jeff Sessions of Alabama, has formally asked committee Chairman Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.) to schedule another hearing on the Johnsen nomination. Leahy sent a letter to Sessions regarding the Republican’s request, a Senate aide told Main Justice. It is unclear what the letter said.

Sessions also said Republicans would likely support additional hearings on Smith and Schroeder as well, although he has not formally made such a request.

Andrew Ramonas contributed to this report.

This post has been updated from an earlier version.

Andre Birotte Jr. (gov)

Andre Birotte, Jr. (Tufts University, Pepperdine University School of Law) has been nominated to replace Thomas P. O’Brien as the U.S. Attorney for the Central District of California. O’Brien resigned Sept. 1, 2009, to join the white-collar criminal defense practice in the Los Angeles offices of the Paul Hastings law firm. The Los Angeles-based district’s acting U.S. Attorney is George S. Cardona.

Birotte’s vitals:

• Born in Newark, N.J., in 1966.
• Has been the Los Angeles Police Commission’s inspector general since May 2003.
• Served as the the police commission’s acting inspector general from December 2002 to May 2003.
• Was an adjunct professor at the University of Southern California’s Gould School of Law from August 2003 to May 2004.
• Worked as the Los Angeles police commission’s assistant inspector general from April 2001 to November 2002.
• Was an associate at Quinn Emanuel Urquhart Oliver & Hedges in Los Angeles from November 1999 to April 2001.
• Served as an Assistant U.S. Attorney in Los Angeles from January 1995 to August 1999.
• Worked as a Los Angeles County deputy public defender from December 1991 to December 1994.
• Was a volunteer law clerk in the U.S. Attorney’s office in Los Angeles from January 1991 to April 1991.
• Worked as a legal intern in the San Diego County public defender’s office from May 1990 to August 1990.
• Was a law clerk at Kohrs & Fiske in Santa Monica, Calif., during the summer of 1989.
• Worked as a law clerk at Bross, Strickland, Cary & Grossman in Newark, N.J., from July 1987 to July 1988.
• Received the Wind Beneath My Wings Award from the National Association of Black Law Enforcement Executives in 2008.
• Has tried approximately 40 criminal jury trials. Of those, he was sole counsel in 35 and co-counsel in five. He also tried one civil jury trial as co-counsel.

Click here for his full Senate Judiciary Committee questionnaire.

On his Office of Government Ethics disclosure, Birotte reports earning $330,000 from his inspector general job. Also noted is $2,200 he earned from Train West Hollywood for work as a personal fitness trainer. Check out his trainer profile page.

UPDATE: On his Senate Judiciary financial disclosure, Birotte reported assets valued at $1 million, mostly from $750,000 in real estate. He reported liabilities of $594,000. His net worth is $407,100.

Ron Machen (Wilmer Hale)

President Barack Obama on Wednesday sent seven U.S. Attorneys nominations to the Senate.

The year-end cluster of nominations brings the number of U.S. Attorney nominations Obama has made this year to 42.

In comparison, President George W. Bush had nominated more than 60 U.S. Attorneys and President Bill Clinton more than 70 U.S. Attorneys by this time in their first terms.

Here are the nominations, from the White House news release:

André Birotte Jr.: Nominee for the Central District of California

Birotte works for the Los Angeles Police Commission, where he has been Inspector General since 2003 and served as an Assistant Inspector General from 2001 to 2003.  From 1995 to 1999, Birotte served as an Assistant United States Attorney for the Central District of California.   He started his legal career as a Deputy Public Defender in the Los Angeles County Public Defender’s Office, serving from 1991 to 1995.  Birotte graduated from Tufts University in 1987 and Pepperdine University School of Law 1991.

David A. Capp: Nominee for the Northern District of Indiana

Capp has been an Assistant United States Attorney for the Northern District of Indiana for 24 years and has served as Interim United States Attorney since 2007.   He previously served as interim United States Attorney in 1993 and from 1999 to 2001.  Prior to his federal service, he worked as an associate at Cohen and Thiros from 1977 to 1985, becoming a partner in 1984.  Capp graduated from the University of Wisconsin in 1972 and the Valparaiso University School of Law in 1977.

Richard S. Hartunian: Nominee for the Northern District of New York

Hartunian has been an Assistant United States Attorney for the Northern District of New York since 1997.  From 1990 to 1997, Hartunian worked both as an Assistant District Attorney for the Office of the District Attorney in Albany County, N.Y., and as a partner at Hartunian and Clark.  Prior to that, he was an associate attorney at Devine, Piedmont and Rutnik.  Hartunian graduated from Georgetown University in 1983 and the Albany Law School of Union University in 1986.

William Hochul leaving the Buffalo court house in 2002 after bail hearings for the "Lackawana Six." (Getty Images)

William J. Hochul Jr.: Nominee for the Western District of New York

Hochul has been an Assistant United States Attorney for the Western District of New York for 18 years, serving as Chief of the National Security Division since 2007 and Chief of the Anti-Terrorism Unit from 2002 to 2007.  From 1981 to 1991, he was an Assistant United States Attorney for the District of Columbia.  Prior to that, Hochul was an associate at Finley, Kumble, Wagner, Heine, Underberg, Manley & Casey from 1985 to 1987.  Following law school, he was a law clerk for Judge James F. Couch Jr., of the Maryland Court of Appeals from 1984 to 1985.  Hochul graduated from the University of Notre Dame in 1981 and the State University of New York at Buffalo in 1984.

Ronald C. Machen, Jr.: Nominee for the District of Columbia

Machen, whose nomination we reported yesterday, is a partner at Wilmer Cutler Pickering Hale and Dorr, where he has worked since 2001.  From 1997 to 2001, Machen served as an Assistant United States Attorney in the United States Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia.  Prior to that, Machen was a law clerk for Judge Damon J. Keith of the United States Court of Appeals, for the Sixth Circuit, from 1995 to 1996.  Immediately following law school, he was an associate at Wilmer, Cutler and Pickering from 1994 to 1995. Machen graduated from Stanford University in 1991 and Harvard Law School in 1994.

Anne M. Tompkins: Nominee for the Western District of North Carolina

Tompkins is a partner at Alston & Bird, LLP, where she has worked since 2005.  From 2000 to 2005, she was an Assistant United States Attorney for the Western District of North Carolina, serving as Deputy Criminal Chief from 2002 to 2004 and on detail in the Regime Crimes Liaison Office in Baghdad, Iraq, from 2004 to 2005.  Tompkins graduated from the University of North Carolina in 1984, the Institute of Government at the University of North Carolina in 1989 and the University of North Carolina School of Law in 1992.

Sally Quillian Yates: Nominee for the Northern District of Georgia

Yates is the Acting United States Attorney for the Northern District of Georgia, where she has worked since 1989.  She served in that office as an Assistant United States Attorney from 1989 to 1994, Chief of the Fraud and Public Corruption Unit from 1994 to 2002, and First Assistant United States Attorney from 2002 to 2009. She had a previous stint as Acting United States Attorney in 2004.  From 1986 to 1989, she was an associate at King & Spalding.  Yates graduated from the University of Georgia in 1982 and the University of Georgia School of Law in 1986.

A misstep by a prosecutor in the U.S. Attorney’s office in the Central District of California has cost the office the option of prosecuting a former business official allegedly involved with securities fraud, The American Lawyer reported.

The case involves the former CFO of Broadcom, William Ruehle. In June 2008, Ruehle and Henry T. Nicholas III, the co-founder and former president and CEO of Broadcom, were charged with improperly backdating stock options.

On Dec. 1, U.S. District Court Judge Cormac J. Carney granted a motion by Ruehle’s attorneys to grant immunity to ex-Broadcom general counsel David Dull and Broadcom co-founder Henry Samueli, who had indicated they would invoke their Fifth Amendment rights against self-incrimination to avoid testifying, The American Lawyer reported.

After the judge granted immunity, Assistant U.S. Attorney Andrew Stolper phoned Dull’s attorneys. Stolper told Dull’s lawyers that their client could be charged with perjury if he provided prosecutors with the same answers he gave the Securities and Exchange Commission regarding the case, according to an Orange County Register report cited by The American Lawyer.

Dull had not been criminally charged in the case but was named in an SEC complaint, according to The American Lawyer. Dull’s lawyers — James Asperger of Quinn Emanuel Urquhart Oliver & Hedges and Seth Aronson of O’Melveny & Myers — reported the call to the judge.   Cormac J. Carney called a hearing in response to the call.

During the hearing, Stolper indicated the purpose of the call was to clarify the law, The American Lawyer said. But Carney suggested the call was an attempt to influence testimony. “I do believe there was government misconduct, but cannot tell from testimony of witnesses if there was an actual threat to Mr. Dull,” the judge said.

Robb Adkins, an Assistant U.S. Attorney in the office, told The Orange County Register that Stolper’s phone call was “a bad idea.” He added, “That, in my view, is extremely regrettable.” Adkins told The Register that as result of the phone call the U.S. Attorney’s office will be unable to prosecute Dull.

According to The National Law Journal, Dull was expected to sign a non-prosecution agreement with the U.S. Attorney’s office, headed by acting U.S. Attorney George S. Cardona, by the end of this week.

CORRECTION: An earlier version of this story incorrectly stated the sequence of events.  The motion to grant immunity was not filed in response to AUSA Stolper’s call to Dull’s attorneys. The motion to grant immunity to Dull in exchange for his testimony was granted before Stolper’s call.  The story also  incorrectly stated that the prosecutor, Stolper, was granted immunity. Main Justice regrets the errors.

Andre Birotte Jr. (gov)

There is “growing consensus” that the Los Angeles Police Department’s inspector general, Andre Birotte Jr., will be nominated as U.S. Attorney for California’s Central District, according to The Los Angeles Times.

Neither the White House nor Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.), who’s in charge of recommending Los Angeles’s next top federal prosecutor, would comment, the newspaper said. However, colleagues of Birotte have been interviewed by Federal Bureau of Investigation agents, the LAT said. Such background checks are a sign that a candidate is well along the way toward nomination.

LAPD Chief William J. Bratton told The LAT he met with an FBI agent on numerous occasions regarding Birotte. An unidentified person interviewed by the FBI told the LAT, “The inference I drew is that they’re doing the final vetting for him.”

Birotte, whose parents immigrated from Haiti, would be the first black man to serve as U.S. Attorney in the Central District, the LAT said.

Thomas P. O'Brien (Paul Hastings)

Feinstein interviewed three candidates in August, including Birotte, the newspaper said. The two other candidates were Brian J. Hennigan, a former federal prosecutor who is now a partner at Irell and Manella; and Michael Raphael, chief of the criminal appeals section in the U.S. Attorney’s office in LA.

Hennigan and Raphael have been notified that Feinstein won’t be recommending them to the White House for the job, the paper said.

The last Senate-confirmed U.S. Attorney in the district was Thomas P. O’Brien, who resigned last month to join the white-collar criminal defense practice at the Paul Hastings law firm in LA.

Central District of California U.S. Attorney Thomas P. O’Brien will step down from his post Sept. 1 to join the Paul Hastings law firm, The Los Angeles Times reported last night.

The Senate confirmed the Bush appointee in October 2007. We previously reported on a couple of controversies surrounding the former Navy Top Gun instructor and gang prosecutor.

Thomas P. O'Brien (DOJ)

O’Brien issued a secret memo in February that directed prosecutors to cease filing charges against clinics that distributed medical marijuana. The ban came shortly after Attorney General Eric Holder said the Justice Department would not raid medicinal marijuana facilities that are legal under state law.

The U.S. Attorney dropped the embargo in March and then went on to win the case against California pot dispensary owner Charles Lynch in June. Medical marijuana supporters said the successful prosecution would have a chilling effect on efforts to protect medicinal pot.

O’Brien was also criticized when he lost the bulk of his case against Democratic donor Pierce O’Donnell, who was accused of illegally reimbursing employees for contributions to John Edwards’s 2004 presidential campaign. U.S. District Judge S. James Otero threw out the majority of the charges against O’Donnell in June.

O’Donnell lawyer George Terwilliger said O’Brien “overreached” in his prosecution. The defense team had questioned whether Bush-appointed O’Brien targeted O’Donnell for his representation of Hurricane Katrina victims in a lawsuit against the U.S., and because he’d criticized Bush’s civil rights policies after the 9/11 attacks. Read our previous report here.

The U.S. Attorney, however, was lauded for fighting gang crime. He received the Attorney General’s Award for Exceptional Service – the highest award given by the Attorney General — for his efforts in probing and prosecuting gang members.

California pot dispensary owner Charles Lynch received a one year and one day prison term from U.S. District Court Judge George H. Wu this afternoon, The Associated Press reported today.

The case which we previously reported on here has garnered national media attention because of Attorney General Eric Holder’s stated policy of not raiding medicinal marijuana facilities that are legal under state law. The sheriff of Kern County, Calif. and the Drug Enforcement Administration raided Lynch’s facility in Bakersfield last month after the Attorney General’s announcement.

Central District of California U.S. Attorney Thomas P. O’Brien told The New York Times that Lynch broke state laws because Lynch was not his users’ primary caregiver and he didn’t provide any medical care beyond selling the marijuana. DOJ spokesperson Matthew Miller told The Times that the Justice Department is “not prioritizing federal resources to go after individuals or organizations unless there is a violation of both federal and state law.”

Federal law forbids the cultivation, sale and use of pot for medical reasons. Authorities have raided more than 100 pot dispensaries – many in California – since California sanctioned medical marijuana in 1996, according to The Times.

Wu decided not to give Lynch the mandatory five-year minimum sentence for conspiracy to manufacture and distribute marijuana, using a federal provision that allowed him to lower the prison term, according to The AP. Lynch, however, must still serve two one-year sentences for selling marijuana to a person under age 21, The AP said.

“It’s not really a victory,” Lynch told The AP. “In a way it’s a loss, but not a bad loss.”

Medical marijuana supporters told The Times that this decision will have a chilling effect on efforts to protect medicinal pot.

“That Attorney General Holder changed federal policy three months ago only makes this miscarriage of justice all the more disturbing,” Stephen Gutwillig of the Drug Policy Alliance, which advocates for a change in drug policy, told The Times. “Charlie is like a forgotten prisoner of war, abandoned after a truce was declared.”

We previously reported that the House Appropriations Committee added an amendment to the Justice Department budget bill Tuesday that would require the DOJ to clarify its policies on the enforcement of federal laws regarding the use of medical marijuana.

Another federal judge has voided a conviction because federal prosecutors failed to turn over potentially exculpatory evidence — this time in Los Angeles.

U.S. District Judge Stephen V. Wilson on Tuesday threw out most of the government’s case against supermarket magnate George Torres. After a three week trial in April, Torres had been convicted on racketeering charges, including soliciting the murder of a gang member who allegedly tried to shake him down for protection money from the Mexican mafia. 

Read the Los Angeles Times story here. 

Newly discovered tape recordings of a convicted drug trafficker contained potentially exculpatory evidence, Thom Mrozek, a spokesman for the U.S. Attorney office in Los Angeles, told the Associated Press. Mrozek declined to discuss the nature of the recordings but told the AP: ”We believe that he’s entitled to a new trial in light of this discovery.”

The 52-year-old former supermarket owner still faces sentencing on tax, immigration and bribery convictions, but the judge indicated at Tuesday’s hearing that Torres would probably get time served. Torres has already been behind bars for two years.

The taped conversations weren’t discovered by prosecutors until after Torres’ trial, Mrozek said. Prosecutors then turned them over immediately to the defense. The office is led by U.S. Attorney Tom O’Brien.

The lead attorney for Torres, Steven G. Madison, had filed a government misconduct motion asking prosecutors to look for and release any additional recordings. Madison told the LA Times he suspected there were missing tapes based on evidence disclosed at trial. The judge had ordered prosecutors to conduct a new search for the material.

Attorney General Eric Holder has already ordered new training in Brady procedures for federal prosecutors throughout the country. The training was ordered after U.S. District Judge Emmet Sullivan in April threw out the conviction of Alaska Sen. Ted Stevens (R) on on public corruption charges. In the Stevens case as well, prosecutors had failed to turn over exculpatory evidence to the defense.

mjacoby@mainjustice.com