Breon Peace has officially served as the U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of New York since October, but on March 4 he was feted with a ceremonial swearing-in at Clara Barton High School in the Crown Heights section of Peace's native Brooklyn. Appearing at Peace's investiture were U.S. Sen. Charles Schumer, who nominated Peace for the seat, and U.S. Rep. Hakeem Jeffries. Also delivering remarks were Eastern District Judge Sterling Johnson Jr., for whom Peace worked as a law clerk early in his legal career; and Loretta Lynch, who served as Eastern District U.S. Attorney under former President Barack Obama. "In times of crisis, it is important to have leadership that is strong, courageous, principled, compassionate and dedicated to equal justice under the law," Peace said after being sworn in by U.S. District Judge Margo Brodie, Reuters reports. "I've seen how the law can be a tool for justice." Peace previously worked as a partner in Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton's White-Collar Defense & Investigations and Litigation groups. Now he leads an office of more than 160 prosecutors with jurisdiction over Brooklyn, Queens, Staten Island and Long Island—an area of more than 8 million people. The office is one of the most prominent in the country, with a long record of putting reputed organized crime members behind bars and securing the prosecution of drug kingpin Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman. Peace took office just after R&B star R. Kelly was convicted of sex trafficking charges and leads the office during the high-profile trial of former Goldman Sachs banker Roger Ng, who is fighting money laundering charges.