Carmen Ortiz (Adelphi University)

Attorney General Eric Holder will attend a ceremonial swearing-in Monday for Massachusetts U.S. Attorney Carmen Ortiz, a spokesperson for Ortiz’s office told Main Justice.

Ortiz was officially sworn in on Nov. 9, a few days after the Senate confirmed her. But U.S. Attorneys often have a later ceremonial investiture with local, state and federal leaders in attendance.

The Attorney General has attended six U.S. Attorney investitures so far. He was at the swearing-in ceremonies for Paul Fishman in New Jersey, Timothy Heaphy in the Western District of Virginia, Neil MacBride in the Eastern District of Virginia, Preet Bharara in the Southern District of New York, B. Todd Jones in Minnesota and  Joyce Vance in the Northern District of Alabama.

Read our previous article here about the warm glow U.S. Attorneys get when the Attorney General shows up at their swearing-in ceremonies.

Attorney General Eric Holder is slated to attend the swearing-in ceremony for the New Jersey U.S. Attorney on Monday, the Justice Department announced today.

Paul Fishman (Friedman, Kaplan, Seiler & Adelman)

Paul Fishman officially took the helm of the New Jersey U.S. Attorney’s Office on Oct. 14. The Senate confirmed him on Oct. 7. Later that month, Holder tapped Fishman to be on the Attorney General’s Advisory Committee of U.S. Attorneys, a body that serves as the voice of the U.S. Attorneys at DOJ headquarters in Washington.

Fishman replaced Ralph Marra, who served as acting U.S. Attorney after Republican Chris Christie stepped down to mount a successful run for governor.

The Attorney General has attended five U.S. Attorney investitures thus far. He was at the swearing-in ceremonies for Timothy Heaphy in the Western District of Virginia, Neil MacBride in the Eastern District of Virginia, Preet Bharara in the Southern District of New York, B. Todd Jones in Minnesota and  Joyce Vance in the Northern District of Alabama.

Read our previous article here about the warm glow U.S. Attorneys get when the AG shows up at their investitures.

The recently confirmed Western District of Virginia U.S. Attorney plans to focus on prescription drug and gang crimes at the Roanoke, Va.-based office, the local NBC affiliate reported today.

Timothy Heaphy (McGuire Woods)

Timothy Heaphy, who was sworn in earlier this month, told WSLS that prescription drug abuse is a major problem in Western Virginia.

“We need to build larger cases,” Heaphy told the television station. “The way you stop this is by really going after the people who make money.”

The U.S. Attorney also told WSLS that he will address gang crime in the Western District. Heaphy said he will work to secure grant money to fight gang crime.

“There’s no question that in small cities like Roanoke, or Danville, or Charlottesville, we have gang membership and gang recruitment,” he told the television station.

Heaphy previously served as the office’s anti-gang coordinator in the Charlottesville branch from May 2003 to December 2005. He told WSLS that he plans to commute from his home in Charlottesville to Roanoke several days a week, though it will be tough on his family.

Timothy Heaphy (McGuire Woods)

Timothy Heaphy was sworn in as U.S. Attorney the Roanoke-based Western District of Virginia this morning, the Rockbridge Weekly reported today.

According to the Rockbridge Weekly, at the swearing in, Heaphy said he felt a deep sense of honor taking the post. “This office will continue to work with all of the diverse communities in the Western District to both prevent crime and punish those who break the law. I look forward to that important effort, and to working to promote justice in the days ahead,” Heaphy said.

Heaphy, who was confirmed by the Senate yesterday, will replace acting U.S. Attorney Julia Dudley.

Formerly a partner at Charlottesville law firm McGuireWoods, Heaphy will become the first presidentially-appointed U.S. Attorney for the Roanoake office since Jim Brownlee. Brownlee resigned last spring to run for the Republican nomination for state attorney general. He lost to Ken Cuccinelli.

Read more about Heaphy here.

The U.S. Attorney for the Western District of Virginia won confirmation Wednesday night by unanimous consent.

Timothy Heaphy (McGuire Woods)

Timothy Heaphy will replace acting U.S. Attorney Julia Dudley at the Roanoke, Va.-based post. President Obama nominated the partner at McGuireWoods in Charlottesville, Va., July 31. Read more about the Heaphy here.

Heaphy will be the first presidentially appointed U.S. Attorney to lead Western District of Virginia since John Brownlee, who resigned in April 2008 to campaign for the Virginia attorney general Republican nomination. Brownlee lost the nomination to state Sen. Ken Cuccinelli in May.

The Senate has now confirmed 16 U.S. Attorneys. The body has yet to consider U.S. Attorney nominees Brendan Johnson for South Dakota and Karen Loeffler for Alaska, who were reported out of the Senate Judiciary Committee last week. There are another 12 nominees, who are waiting for votes in committee.

The Senate Judiciary Committee endorsed the U.S. Attorney nominee for the Western District of Virginia today by unanimous consent.

Timothy Heaphy (McGuire Woods)

The president nominated Timothy Heaphy for the Roanoke-based post July 31. The partner at McGuireWoods in Charlottesville, Va., would succeed acting U.S. Attorney Julia Dudley. Read more about the nominee here.

Heaphy would be the first presidentially appointed U.S. Attorney to lead Western District of Virginia since John Brownlee, who resigned in April 2008 to campaign for the Virginia attorney general Republican nomination. Brownlee lost the nomination to state Sen. Ken Cuccinelli in May.

The Senate Judiciary Committee has  now  approved a total of 16 U.S. Attorney nominees. The Senate has confirmed 14 of those nominees. The panel has yet to vote on 10  nominees.

The Senate confirmed three U.S. Attorneys last night by unanimous consent.

They are:

Jenny Durkan (Law Offices of Jenny A. Durkan)

-Jenny Durkan (Western District of Washington): The Seattle lawyer was nominated June 4. She will replace Jeffrey C. Sullivan, who has been the interim U.S. Attorney since John McKay was forced out in the 2006 U.S. Attorney purge. Read more about Durkan here.

Deborah Gilg (Gilg, Kruger & Troia)

-Florence Nakakuni (Hawaii): The Hawaii Assistant U.S. Attorney was nominated July 14. She will succeed Bush holdover Edward Kubo Jr., who has been U.S. Attorney since 2001. Read more about Nakakuni here.

-Deborah Gilg (Nebraska): The Omaha lawyer was nominated July 31. She will replace Bush holdover Joe Stecher, who has been U.S. Attorney since 2007. Read more about Gilg here.

The Senate has now confirmed 14 U.S. Attorneys who have been reported out of the Senate Judiciary Committee. Paul Fishman for New Jersey is the only nominee who has been endorsed by the panel, but has not been considered by the full Senate yet. Fishman and Durkan waited more than three months before the Senate Judiciary Committee considered them. Read our previous report about the delays on them here.

The Senate Judiciary Committee has yet to consider eight U.S. Attorney nominees, including Timothy Heaphy for the Western District of Virginia who will go before the panel tomorrow.

The Senate Judiciary Committee is slated to consider President Obama’s pick to lead the Western District of Virginia U.S. Attorney’s Office at its business meeting Thursday, according to the panel’s Web site.

Timothy Heaphy (McGuire Woods)

The president tapped Timothy Heaphy for the post July 31. The partner at McGuireWoods in Charlottesville, Va. would replace acting U.S. Attorney Julia Dudley. Read more about the nominee here.

Heaphy would be the first presidentially appointed U.S. Attorney to lead the office since John Brownlee, who resigned in April 2008 to campaign for the Virginia attorney general Republican nomination.

Brownlee lost the nomination to State Sen. Ken Cuccinelli in May. The former U.S. Attorney is now a partner at D.C.-area law firm Holland & Knight.

The Senate Judiciary Committee still has to schedule panel votes on 11 U.S. Attorney nominees. The panel has considered and approved a total of 15 U.S. Attorney nominees. The Senate has confirmed 11 U.S. Attorneys who have been reported out of committee.

Well, here we are again. Four new nominations, four new questionnaires serving up the nominees’ private and public lives for your consumption.

Before you dig in, a note: We’ve seasoned the questionnaires with data from financial disclosure forms retrieved from the Office of Government Ethics. As we mentioned previously, the Senate Judiciary Committee deletes financial information from the questionnaires posted online here.

Here they are:

• David Bogden, District of Nevada. Click here.
• Deborah Gilg, District of Nebraska. Click here.
• Tim Heaphy, Western District of Virginia. Click here.
• Peter Neronha, District of Rhode Island. Click here.

Timothy Heaphy (McGuire Woods)

Timothy Heaphy (UVa, UVa Law) is nominated to replace John Brownlee, who campaigned to be the Republican nominee for Virginia attorney general after he left the U.S. Attorney’s office in April 2008 but lost to State Sen. Ken Cuccinelli.

Heaphy’s vitals:

• Born in New Haven, Conn., in 1964.
• Been a partner at McGuireWoods in Charlottesville, Va., since January 2006. Represented corporate and individual clients in government investigations involving securities, public corruption, environmental crimes, tax, government contracting, campaign finance, conflicts of interest, fraud and conspiracy. Also defended Kirk Fordham, former chief of staff to Rep. Mark Foley (R-Fla.), and Rep. Timothy Murphy (R-Pa.) in separate criminal investigations.
• Received $506,868 from his partnership with McGuireWoods. Upon confirmation, Heaphy would resign from McGuireWoods, triggering a $37,500 bonus based on his performance in 2009.
• Served as Deputy Managing Assistant U.S. Attorney in the Western District of Virginia from May 2003 until December 2005, where he handed cases involving violent crime, public corruption, fraud and national security. While in the office, he also served as the Deputy Managing Assistant United States Attorney for the Charlottesville Division of the district and  served as the district’s Anti-Gang Coordinator.
• Worked as assistant U.S. Attorney  for the District of Columbia from April 1994 until May 2003. He was hired for the job by Eric Holder, who Heaphy discloses has “been a friend and mentor ever since.”
• Was an associate at Morrison & Foerster in San Francisco from September 1992 until April 1994.
• Was a summer associate at McCutchen, Doyle, Brown & Enersen in San Francisco in 1990.
• Was a press assistant on the Biden for President campaign in the summer of 1987, after which he worked in Biden’s senate office from September 1987 until June 1988.
• Worked for the Crime Victims United of Virginia political action committee in the fall of 2007 for less than a month before resigning due to “disagreement with the tone and substance of advertising that the group intended to sponsor and my realization that the group’s purpose was limited to the defeat of a particular candidate rather than the broader support of issues impacting crime victims.”
• Estimates that he has tried 65 cases to jury, the majority of which he was sole counsel on. Also has tried hundreds of non-jury trials.
• Has served as Vice Chairman of the Virginia Bar Association Criminal Justice Section since Feb. 2009
• Has served as Director of the First Amendment Memorial at the Thomas Jefferson Center for Free Expression since Jan. 2006 and will resign upon confirmation
• Served as Director of the Virginia Fair Trial Project from April 2008 until February 2009
• Was the Athletic Director at Camp Chateaugay in Merrill, N.Y. in the summer of 1988. Also was an English teacher at Archbishop Carroll High School in Washington, D.C., during the 1986-1987 school year. Worked as a waiter at II Porto Ristorante in Alexandria, Va. in the summer of 1986.
• Has received a slew of awards including the Department of Justice’s John Marshall Award for Excellence in Trial for Litigation, DOJ’s Director’s Award for Superior Performance and was named one of National Law Journal’s “Top 40 Under 40.”

Click here for his full questionnaire.