Paul J. Fishman

Paul J. Fishman was nominated by President Barack Obama as the United States Attorney for the District of New Jersey in June 2009; he was confirmed by the U.S. Senate on October 7, 2009 and sworn in on October 14, 2009.

As U.S. Attorney, he is responsible for overseeing all federal criminal investigations and prosecutions and the litigation of all civil matters in New Jersey in which the federal government has an interest.  Mr. Fishman supervises a staff of approximately 145 attorneys and 115 support personnel in Newark, Camden, and Trenton.  In addition to his service as U.S. Attorney, Mr. Fishman serves as Chair of Attorney General Holder’s Advisory Committee of U.S. Attorneys (“AGAC”).  Created in 1973, the AGAC represents the voice of the U.S. Attorneys and provides advice and counsel to the Attorney General on policy, management, and operational issues affecting the offices of the United States Attorneys across the country.

Mr. Fishman has spent much of his professional career in public service.  After graduating from law school, he clerked for the Honorable Edward R. Becker of the United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit.  He was an Assistant United States Attorney from 1983 to 1994, during which time he served as Deputy Chief of the Criminal Division, Chief of Narcotics, Chief of the Criminal Division, and First Assistant U.S. Attorney.  From 1994 to 1997, he was a senior adviser to the Attorney General and Deputy Attorney General of the United States on a variety of law enforcement, policy, legislative, national security, and international matters, as well as on specific investigations and prosecutions. In addition to his public service, from 1998 - 2009 Mr. Fishman was a partner in the law firm of Friedman Kaplan Seiler & Adelman, where he headed the firm’s white collar practice.  He graduated magna cum laude in 1978 from Princeton University and cum laude in 1982 from Harvard Law School, where he was the Managing Editor of the Harvard Law Review.  In 2011, he was awarded an Honorary Doctorate of Law by Seton Hall University Law School.