More than 10 years ago, we stood under the American flag in the library of One St. Andrew’s Plaza surrounded by members of the Southern District U.S. Attorney’s Office, family and friends, raised our right hands, and were sworn in as assistant U.S. attorneys. The U.S. attorney administered the oath of office, and we swore to defend the constitution and faithfully carry out the duties of a federal prosecutor. We were given a plaque quoting the words of former Southern District U.S. Attorney Whitney North Seymour Jr., that read, in part, “To be an Assistant United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York requires commitment to absolute integrity and fair play” and “a total dedication to the public interest.” This plaque also quoted Thomas Paine to instill in us that,“to do good is my religion.”

Geoff Berman’s promise upon his firing that the office’s “investigations will move forward without delay or interruption” honor the words of Seymour, words that became our credo as assistant U.S. attorneys: do the right thing, in the right way, and for the right reasons. The efforts to oust Berman and replace him on an interim basis with a U.S. attorney from another district were unprecedented. Berman’s abrupt firing in the midst of ongoing investigations into close allies of the president endangered everything that the Southern District of New York stands for and is a serious threat to the rule of law.

This content has been archived. It is available through our partners, LexisNexis® and Bloomberg Law.

To view this content, please continue to their sites.

Not a Lexis Subscriber?
Subscribe Now

Not a Bloomberg Law Subscriber?
Subscribe Now

Why am I seeing this?

LexisNexis® and Bloomberg Law are third party online distributors of the broad collection of current and archived versions of ALM's legal news publications. LexisNexis® and Bloomberg Law customers are able to access and use ALM's content, including content from the National Law Journal, The American Lawyer, Legaltech News, The New York Law Journal, and Corporate Counsel, as well as other sources of legal information.

For questions call 1-877-256-2472 or contact us at [email protected]