Chief of Staff
Paul Hutter was appointed Chief of Staff for the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) by VA Secretary James B. Peake, M.D. on November 5, 2008. He previously served as the Department’s General Counsel. Mr. Hutter also served for six months as the Acting Assistant Secretary for Policy, Planning, and Preparedness and for 10 months as the Acting Assistant Secretary for Human Resources and Administration. As Chief of Staff, he works closely with the Secretary and Deputy Secretary in managing day-to-day operations of the federal government’s second-largest Cabinet department, with some 234,000 employees in VA medical centers, clinics, benefits offices and national cemeteries throughout the country. Mr. Hutter retired as a Colonel in the U.S. Army Reserves, where he served as an Infantry Officer and Judge Advocate for 30 years. In 2004, Mr. Hutter served on a 10-month detail to the Department of Defense, working on a team to transition the occupation government in Iraq (the Coalition Provisional Authority) to a U.S. Embassy. Immediately after 9/11, Mr. Hutter went on active duty to assist with the development of a military commission process to support the Global War on Terrorism. Mr. Hutter was the Assistant General Counsel prior to becoming the General Counsel, and before that served in various roles of increasing responsibility in field and headquarters assignments within the Office of General Counsel. Prior to joining VA, Mr. Hutter was a civil litigator in private practice in Honolulu, Hawaii, where he represented management in a wide variety of subject areas, including securities fraud, employment law and insurance defense. Mr. Hutter has also served in the Army Judge Advocate General’s Corps as a prosecutor, international lawyer, staff judge advocate and commander. Mr. Hutter attended the University of Santa Clara Law School, and has a Masters Degree in Business Administration from Pepperdine University. Mr. Hutter received an LL.M. at The Judge Advocate General's School in 1987, and is admitted to practice in California, Hawaii, and Virginia. He is a member of the bar of the Court of Appeals for Veterans Claims and the United States Supreme Court. Mr. Hutter and his wife, Mary, reside in Virginia. Two of their three sons are Naval aviators; their eldest son is a chef in Alexandria, Virginia. November 2008
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