President Obama Nominates Fishman to Be U.S. Attorney for New Jersey

May 15, 2009

President Barack Obama on May 15 announced his intention to nominate FKSA partner Paul J. Fishman as United States Attorney for the District of New Jersey. Mr. Fishman has led Friedman Kaplan's white-collar practice for the last eleven years. His nomination was announced along with nominees for United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, the Northern District of Alabama, the Western District of Washington, Vermont, and New Hampshire in the first group of United States Attorney nominations made by the new administration. "This group of men and women have distinguished themselves as fair, tenacious and respected attorneys throughout their careers in both public and private service," President Obama said. "They will serve their country with distinction as US Attorneys and it is my honor to nominate them for these esteemed positions."

From 1994 to 1997, Mr. Fishman worked in the Office of the Deputy Attorney General at the Department of Justice. He spent ten years as an Assistant United States Attorney in the District of New Jersey, from 1983 to 1993. While in the United States Attorney's Office, he worked in the Office's Special Prosecutions Division, served as Deputy Chief of the Criminal Division/Chief of Narcotics, Chief of the Criminal Division, and First Assistant. He coordinated Trenton's Weed & Seed program, including helping to implement a Violent Offenders Removal Program and, with the Mayor's office, a Safe Haven program keeping schools open after hours for additional activities. Following law school, Mr. Fishman clerked for Judge Edward R. Becker of the United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit. He graduated from Princeton University (1978) and Harvard Law School (1982), where he was managing editor of the Harvard Law Review.

In recommending Mr. Fishman's appointment, New Jersey Senators Frank R. Lautenberg and Robert Menendez told the President, "Mr. Fishman is exceptionally well qualified for this post, with fourteen years of experience in the U.S. Attorney's Office and the Department of Justice, working on a range of issues from complex securities litigation to combating criminal activity related to illegal firearms and gangs." The Senators said that since leaving government service, Mr. Fishman "has been a prominent and highly regarded attorney handling hundreds of civil and white-collar criminal matters.…That combination of experience, together with his strong intellect and unquestioned integrity, make him a superb choice."