US Attorney Tristram Coffin on Friday announced that he will be leaving his position next month after serving as Vermont’s top federal prosecutor since 2009. US Senator Patrick Leahy (D-Vermont) praised Coffin for his years of service, and he committed to working quickly to find a highly qualified nominee to serve as Vermont’s next US Attorney. Coffin announced his plan to return to private practice and join the Vermont law firm Downs Rachlin Martin PLLC. DRM Managing Partner Paul H. Ode, Jr., later confirmed that Coffin will join DRM as a director in the Burlington office, effective January 12.
“Tris Coffin has served with great distinction as the federal prosecutor for this district, and his deep and current knowledge of complex legal issues will be of great value to clients who, for one reason or another, become engaged with law enforcement at the federal level,” Ode said. “Over his career in both Vermont and Washington D.C., Tris has built meaningful relationships at all levels of government, the legal community, the business world and the media. This will serve him well as he returns to private practice here.”
At DRM, Coffin will represent clients in significant civil and criminal litigation both within Vermont and outside of the state. He will assist clients with internal and external investigations in areas such as health care, corporate fiduciary duties, government contracting and securities.
“On the firm level, Tris has built lasting relationships with many of our attorneys and we are committed to helping him build his practice in government investigations, enforcement, high level litigation and crisis management,” said Robert B. Luce, chair of DRM’s Litigation Practice Group. “We believe this is a perfect fit, and I am delighted to welcome him to the firm.”
Except for three years in private practice in 2006-2009, Coffin has spent the last 17 years in the US Attorney’s Office for the District of Vermont, including the past six years as chief prosecutor. Following the recommendation of U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Patrick J. Leahy, Coffin was appointed to the post in 2009 by President Barack Obama and confirmed by the U.S. Senate. As chief prosecutor, Coffin supervised all criminal and civil investigations and prosecutions in the district, served as chief spokesperson for federal law enforcement, built coalitions and managed an active caseload. He dealt with matters that included fraud, organized crime, drug smuggling, child exploitation, internet crime and financial crime. Significant cases included mail and wire fraud, health care fraud, False Claims Act and qui tam cases, extradition, defense contracting, employment discrimination, child exploitation and narcotics and firearms trafficking.
From 2009 to his departure, Coffin served as co-chair of the Subcommittee on Criminal Practice of the U.S. Attorney General’s Advisory Committee, dealing with key issues facing the Department of Justice, including discovery reform, charging standards, sentencing issues, agency tape recording policy, Giglio reform and grand jury practice. He also served on the AGAC Health Care Fraud Working Group, the Cyber Crime Working Group and the Cross Border Crime Forum, addressing issues of U.S.-Canada law enforcement and cooperation.
A graduate of Wesleyan University and the Columbia University School of Law, Coffin was counsel to the Subcommittee on Technology and the Law of the U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee, where he worked closely with Vermont Senator Leahy. In that capacity, Coffin assisted the Senator with policies regarding crime, civil rights and court legislation, hi-tech antitrust issues, the Northeast Interstate Dairy Compact, and the approval of three nominees to the U.S. Supreme Court and many executive and judicial branch nominees, among other matters.
Operating on the fundamental belief that anything is possible when imagination and pragmatism live side by side, the 60-plus attorneys at DRM apply creativity, connections and experience to solve the toughest legal problems. From offices located in Vermont and New Hampshire, DRM represents regional, national and international entrepreneurs, venture capitalists, technology businesses and Fortune 100 companies. The legal services provided by the firm include bankruptcy and business restructuring, general business, captive insurance, renewable energy and telecommunications, health law, intellectual property, labor and employment, litigation, real estate and land use, environmental, tax, and trusts and estates, plus legislative and regulatory services through the firm’s Government and Public Affairs group. DRM is the exclusive member firm in Vermont for Lex Mundi – the world’s leading network of independent law firms with in-depth experience in more than 100 countries worldwide. Downs Rachlin Martin: business sense, legal ingenuity.
“Tris Coffin is a tough and fair prosecutor, and has been an effective law enforcement leader in Vermont. I join my fellow Vermonters in thanking him for his service. Tris has demonstrated thoughtful leadership in partnering with state and local law enforcement and Vermont communities on a range of issues, including efforts to confront the crisis of heroin and opioid addiction. I commend Tris for his years of service to our state and wish him the best in his future endeavors,” said Leahy, who currently chairs the Senate Judiciary Committee.
Coffin was unanimously confirmed by the Senate in August 2009 to be Vermont’s 36th United States Attorney. In September 2010, he convened an important symposium in the Statehouse in Montpelier to discuss the problem of opiate drug abuse. Both Leahy and Attorney General Holder participated in that symposium, and Leahy this year invited Coffin to deliver testimony at a Judiciary Committee field hearing in Rutland looking at community solutions to the opioid crisis. At that hearing, Coffin described his partnership working with Vermont schools to raise awareness and focus on prevention.
Before serving as US Attorney, Coffin worked in private practice in Burlington with the firm of Paul Frank & Collins, P.C. He previously served as an assistant U.S. Attorney in the Vermont district’s criminal division from 1998 to 2006 and in the civil division from 1994 until 1998. Coffin also worked as a staff attorney for Leahy on the Senate Judiciary Committee from 1991 to 1994. He earned his law degree from Columbia University and his undergraduate degree from Wesleyan University.
Leahy, a former prosecutor himself, recommended Coffin for the U.S. Attorney position at the beginning of the Obama administration in 2009. Leahy, the most senior Democrat on the Judiciary Committee that considers these nominations, said on Friday that he will work with the Vermont delegation and the President to recommend a nominee to be Vermont’s next US Attorney.
“It is critical that our state have a Senate-confirmed U.S. attorney, and I will work Senator Sanders, Congressman Welch and others to ensure that Vermont will have another highly qualified person serving in this critical law enforcement position,” Leahy said.
Source: Leahy 12.19.2014