U.S. Attorney Barbara McQuade Gets Key Appointment

U.S. Attorney Barbara McQuade of the Eastern District of Michigan has been appointed vice chair of the Attorney General's Advisory Committee of US. Attorneys, Attorney General Loretta E. Lynch announced Monday. The chair of the group is U.S. Attorney Richard S. Hartunian for the Northern District of New York.

Both appointments are effective immediately.

“The Attorney General’s Advisory Committee plays an essential role in shaping the Justice Department’s policies, implementing its programs, and ensuring that equal justice and the rule of law are upheld throughout the United States,” Lynch said in a news release. “As a former chair of the AGAC, I know firsthand the significant duties required of the committee’s leaders, and I am certain that U.S. Attorneys Richard Hartunian and Barbara McQuade are ready to assume the responsibility of chairing such an important and distinguished body.

“They are both seasoned prosecutors, exemplary law enforcement officers, and devoted public servants, and I look forward to benefitting from their long experience and wise counsel as we advance the department’s vital work in the months ahead. I congratulate them on their new posts, and I once again thank former U.S. Attorney John Walsh for his outstanding service as AGAC chair over the last 20 months.”

McQuade was appointed to the AGAC in April 2013 and has previously served as co-chair of the Terrorism and National Security Subcommittee. She also served on subcommittees addressing civil rights and border security. She became the first woman to serve as U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Michigan when she took office in January of 2010. She was an Assistant U.S. Attorney in Detroit, Michigan, for 12 years, including service as Deputy Chief of the National Security Unit.

McQuade is a 1987 graduate of the University of Michigan and a 1991 graduate of the University of Michigan Law School. Before becoming a federal prosecutor, she practiced law in a Detroit firm and served as a law clerk to a U.S. District Judge. From 2003 to 2009, McQuade was as an adjunct law professor at the University of Detroit Mercy School of Law.

McQuade replaces Hartunian as vice chair, and Hartunian replaces former U.S. Attorney John Walsh for the District of Colorado as chair.

The AGAC was created in 1973 to serve as the voice of the U.S. Attorneys and to advise the Attorney General on policy, management and operational issues impacting the offices of the U.S. Attorneys.