Senator Sessions Offered Attorney General Role in Trump Administration

The RNLA congratulates U.S. Senator Jeff Sessions (R-Alabama) on being offered the position of Attorney General for the incoming Trump Administration. Senator Sessions will need to be confirmed by the U.S. Senate before he can be sworn in as the next Attorney General.

In a statement, [President-Elect] Trump called Sessions one of his most trusted campaign advisers and cited his “world-class legal mind.”…“Jeff is greatly admired by legal scholars and virtually everyone who knows him,” Trump said.

Sessions served as a U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of Alabama and as Alabama’s attorney general. In a statement, he said there was “no greater honor” than to lead the Justice Department.

“I will give all my strength to advance the Department’s highest ideals,” [Senator Sessions] said. “I enthusiastically embrace President-elect Trump’s vision for ‘one America,’ and his commitment to equal justice under law. I look forward to fulfilling my duties with an unwavering dedication to fairness and impartiality.”

Judiciary Committee Chairman Charles E. Grassley (R-Iowa) called Sessions a respected member who “has worked across the aisle on major legislation. He knows the Justice Department as a former U.S. attorney, which would serve him very well in this position. With this background, I’m confident he would be reported favorably out of the committee.” 

Senator Sessions is an excellent leadership choice by President-Elect Trump. Senator Sessions was the 2010 recipient of the RNLA’s Ed Meese Award. The Ed Meese Award, named after the 75th United States Attorney General, is given to those that have upheld the rule of law in the face of adverse political challenges. For more about Senator Sessions and his background, please see his biography on the Trump Presidential Transition website.

Chuck Cooper to be Presented RNLA's Highest Award

The Republican National Lawyers Association (RNLA) is pleased to name Charles “Chuck” Copper as the recipient of the 2016 Ed Meese Award.  Cooper was selected for the Ed Meese Award, named after the 65th United States Attorney General, as he has upheld the rule of law in the face of adverse political challenges. 

Charles J. Cooper is a founding member and chairman of Cooper & Kirk, PLLC. Named by The National Law Journal as one of the 10 best civil litigators in Washington, he has over 35 years of legal experience in government and private practice, with several appearances before the United States Supreme Court and scores of other successful cases on both the trial and appellate levels.

Shortly after serving as law clerk to Judge Paul Roney of the Fifth (now Eleventh) Circuit Court of Appeals, and to Justice (later Chief Justice) William H. Rehnquist, Mr. Cooper joined the Civil Rights Division of the U.S. Department of Justice in 1981. In 1985 President Reagan appointed Mr. Cooper to the position of Assistant Attorney General for the Office of Legal Counsel. Mr. Cooper reentered private practice in 1988, as a partner in the Washington, D.C. office of McGuire Woods. From 1990 until the founding of Cooper & Kirk in 1996, he was a partner at Shaw, Pittman, Potts & Trowbridge where he headed the firm’s Constitutional and Government Litigation Group.

Mr. Cooper’s practice is national in scope and is concentrated in the areas of constitutional, commercial, and civil rights litigation. He is currently representing private clients in a variety of commercial cases, including antitrust, intellectual property, and contract disputes. Mr. Cooper also represents a number of state and local government bodies, as well as private clients, in a wide range of constitutional and federal statutory cases.

In 1998 Mr. Cooper was appointed by Chief Justice William H. Rehnquist to serve as a member of the Standing Committee on Rules of Practice and Procedure of the Judicial Conference of the United States. Mr. Cooper is a member of the American Law Institute and the American Academy of Appellate Lawyers, and he has spoken and published extensively on a wide variety of constitutional and legal policy topics.

Mr. Cooper is a lifelong Republican who has been active in numerous local, state and national election campaigns.  He served as National Co-Chairman of Lawyers for Bush-Cheney 2004, the last successful Republican Presidential Campaign.  Mr. Cooper’s firm has employed numerous leaders in the Republican and conservative legal movement including Senators Tom Cotton and Ted Cruz.  Mr. Cooper has also been previously honored by the RNLA with the 2010 Republican Lawyer of the Year Award.

Fred Fielding to be Honored with RNLA's Highest Award

The RNLA is pleased to announce that Fred Fielding will be the 2013 Ed Meese Award Winner.  The Ed Meese Award is the RNLA’s highest award presented annual to a leader who has upheld the rule of law in the face of adverse political challenges. 

Fred F. Fielding is a partner in Morgan Lewis’s Litigation Practice.  He has spent his distinguished legal career in both the public and private sectors. Prior to joining Morgan Lewis,  Mr. Fielding served as White House Counsel to President George W. Bush from February 2007 to January 2009. Mr. Fielding also served as White House Counsel to President Ronald Reagan from 1981 to 1986, and served in the Nixon White House as Deputy Counsel from 1972 to 1974 and as Associate Counsel from 1970 to 1972.

Mr. Fielding’s long record of leadership in public service includes being a member of the National Commission on Terrorist Attacks Upon the United States (commonly referred to as the 9/11 Commission), clearance counsel for the 2000 Bush-Cheney Presidential Transition, a member of the Secretary of Transportation’s Task Force on Aviation Disasters (1997–1998), a member of the Tribunal on the U.S.–U.K. Air Treaty Dispute (1989–1994), and a member of the President’s Commission on Federal Ethics Law Reform (1989).

Mr. Fielding brings a unique background and experience to the representation of his clients. In his years of professional activity, and as Deputy Counsel to President Nixon and then Counsel to Presidents Reagan and Bush, he gained a reputation as a skilled negotiator and handler of complex and sensitive issues, who brings to bear not only his broad legal experience but also his ability to understand and resolve the political, public relations, and practical dimensions of significant problems.

Mr. Fielding served for years as a member of the RNLA Board of Governors prior to resigning to join the Bush White House.  He has been a very popular speaker and guest at RNLA events and receptions over the years as well.  

Mr. Fielding received a J.D. from the University of Virginia School of Law in 1964, where he served on the editorial board of the Virginia Law Review. He received an A.B., cum laude, in political science from Gettysburg College in 1961. He has also been awarded honorary doctorates from Detroit College of Law and Pepperdine University School of Law.

Mr. Fielding has received numerous awards and accolades during his career. When Mr. Fielding was appointed White House Counsel in 2007, TIME magazine described him as “the ultimate Washington lawyer-insider . . . he’s the guy who helps you defend your position, stick to your principles, but tries to work out a reasonable compromise . . . he is highly regarded by everyone.”  His numerous honors include selection as a “Legend in the Law” by the Washington Lawyer magazine, as a “Legal Visionary” by the Legal Times, as the District of Columbia Bar Association’s “Lawyer of the Year 2004,” and as one of the “Best Lawyers in America” for business litigation by Corporate Counsel magazine. His additional activities include board memberships in numerous charitable and public corporations, as well as bar association activities.

Last year’s winner Ed Meese Award winner was former Secretary of Homeland Security Michael Chertoff and past winners include Rudy Giuliani, Attorney General John Ashcroft, and Ambassador John Bolton.  The award will be formally presented at the RNLA National Policy Conference on April 26 and a reception will be held in Mr. Fielding's honor immediately following the conference.