Geoffrey Berman facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Geoffrey Berman
|
|
|---|---|
 |
|
| United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York | |
| In office January 5, 2018 – June 20, 2020 Acting: January 5, 2018 – April 25, 2018 |
|
| President | Donald Trump |
| Preceded by | Joon Kim (acting) |
| Succeeded by | Audrey Strauss |
| Personal details | |
| Born |
Geoffrey Steven Berman
September 12, 1959 Trenton, New Jersey, U.S. |
| Political party | Republican |
| Spouse | Joanne Schwartz |
| Relatives | Michael J. Berman |
| Residences | New York, New York, U.S. |
| Education | University of Pennsylvania (BA, BS) Stanford University (JD) |
Geoffrey Steven Berman (born September 12, 1959) is an American lawyer. He served as the top federal prosecutor for the Southern District of New York from 2018 to 2020. This is a very important job, overseeing many legal cases in a busy part of the United States. Today, he works as a global leader in the legal department at a law firm called Fried, Frank, Harris, Shriver & Jacobson.
Contents
Early Life and Education
Geoffrey Steven Berman was born in Trenton, New Jersey, on September 12, 1959. His parents were Marie and Ronald Berman. His father worked as a property developer in Trenton.
Geoffrey went to the University of Pennsylvania. He earned two degrees in 1981. One was a Bachelor of Arts in political science. The other was a Bachelor of Science in economics from the Wharton School. He graduated with high honors.
After college, he studied law at Stanford Law School. He earned his law degree in 1984. While there, he was an editor for the Stanford Law Review, a legal journal.
Legal Career
Berman started his legal career working for a judge. He was a clerk for Judge Leonard I. Garth. Judge Garth worked for the United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit.
From 1987 to 1990, Berman worked with a special prosecutor named Lawrence Walsh. This was during an investigation known as the Iran–Contra affair. He helped a team that looked into cases of tax fraud.
Assistant U.S. Attorney
From 1990 to 1994, Berman worked as an Assistant United States Attorney. This means he was a federal prosecutor for the Southern District of New York. He handled many cases involving taxes and fraud. He worked on important cases, including a computer hacking case called the Masters of Deception.
Working in Private Law
After his time as a federal prosecutor, Berman worked for several private law firms. He helped to clean up organized crime in the New York Carpenter’s Union.
From 1994 to 1997, he worked for free (pro bono) to help a family named Kanka. He defended a law called Megan’s Law. This law helps protect children by making information about certain offenders public.
Berman married Joanne Karen Schwartz on August 20, 1994. He lived in New York for many years. Later, he moved to Princeton, New Jersey, for 14 years before returning to New York.
Before becoming a U.S. Attorney, Berman was a partner at a law firm called Greenberg Traurig. Another lawyer, Rudy Giuliani, also worked there.
United States Attorney
On January 3, 2018, Attorney General Jeff Sessions announced that Berman would be the U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York. He was one of 17 former prosecutors chosen for these important jobs on a temporary basis. The idea was that the Senate would later confirm them permanently.
However, the Trump administration never officially nominated Berman or most of the other temporary appointments. This meant their positions were not made permanent by the Senate.
Leaving the Office in 2020
In June 2020, there were reports that President Trump had been thinking about replacing Berman for some time.
On June 19, 2020, Attorney General William Barr announced that Berman would be stepping down from his job. Barr said that President Trump planned to nominate Jay Clayton to take Berman's place.
Soon after this announcement, Berman said he had not resigned. He stated he had "no intention of resigning." He explained that he was appointed by a court, not the president. He said he would stay in office until the Senate confirmed a new person.
The next day, June 20, Barr told Berman that President Trump had fired him at Barr's request. Barr also said that the deputy U.S. Attorney, Audrey Strauss, would take over as acting U.S. Attorney. After this, Berman agreed to leave his position immediately.
Return to Private Life
In December 2020, Geoffrey Berman joined the law firm Fried, Frank, Harris, Shriver & Jacobson. He now leads their team that handles white-collar defense, which involves certain types of financial crimes, and other investigations.
In September 2022, Berman published a book called Holding the Line: Inside the Nation’s Preeminent US Attorney’s Office and its Battle with the Trump Justice Department. In his book, he wrote about his experiences and challenges while working as the U.S. Attorney. He described situations where he felt decisions were made for political reasons. The Senate Judiciary Committee announced they would look into the claims made in his book.
See also
- List of Jewish American jurists
