Roslynn R. Mauskopf, Retired Federal Judge and Former Director of the Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts, Joins Bracewell’s Government Enforcement and Investigations Practice in New York

NEW YORK – Bracewell LLP announced today that Judge Roslynn R. Mauskopf, who served 16 years as a district court judge and as director of the Administrative Office of the United States Courts, has joined the firm’s New York office as a partner in the government enforcement and investigations practice. Judge Mauskopf will focus her practice at Bracewell on government and internal investigations, regulatory enforcement and compliance, corporate governance, white-collar litigation, arbitrations and corporate monitorships, providing advice and counsel to companies, boards of directors and corporate executives on sensitive matters involving reputational risk.

“I’m delighted to welcome Judge Mauskopf to the firm,” said Bracewell Managing Partner Gregory M. Bopp. “Her distinguished career as a judge, prosecutor and public servant brings additional depth and experience to our highly respected government enforcement and investigations team.”

Judge Mauskopf has devoted her entire career to public service, including as a federal prosecutor and judge. From February 1, 2021, through January 31, 2024, she served as director of the Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts, the chief administrative officer of the federal courts. In announcing Judge Mauskopf’s retirement from the federal judiciary, Chief Justice John G. Roberts, Jr. praised her for bringing “superb judgment to bear in addressing a broad range of issues.” Judge Mauskopf guided the judiciary through the COVID-19 pandemic, implemented workplace conduct and ethics reforms and strengthened the courts’ cybersecurity defenses, all while providing a steadying hand in operations and serving as secretary to the Judicial Conference of the United States, the principal policy-making body for the federal court system, and as a board member of the Federal Judicial Center. She also served as the Judicial Branch’s congressional liaison, working with congressional committees on legislation affecting the Judiciary and to secure the Judiciary’s annual appropriation and executing the Judiciary’s budget.

Prior to joining the bench, Judge Mauskopf was nominated by President George W. Bush and confirmed by the U.S. Senate in 2002 to serve as the United States Attorney for the Eastern District of New York. In 2007, President Bush nominated her to serve as a judge in the Eastern District of New York. She became Chief Judge in 2020.

Prior to her federal service, Judge Mauskopf was appointed New York State Inspector General by New York Governor George Pataki. Judge Mauskopf led the office from October 1995 to September 2002 in investigating allegations of corruption, fraud, criminal activity, conflicts of interest, waste and abuse in state executive branch agencies.

Judge Mauskopf began her legal career in 1982 as an Assistant District Attorney in the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office, where she worked with current Bracewell partners Barbara S. Jones and Daniel S. Connolly and served as Deputy Chief of the Special Prosecutions Bureau and Chief of the Frauds Bureau.

“In a distinguished career that spans four decades, Roz Mauskopf has made invaluable contributions to the American legal system. She is a remarkable and talented lawyer, prosecutor and judge,” said Connolly, who is managing partner of Bracewell’s New York office and a member of the firm’s management committee.

Bracewell’s government enforcement and investigations practice represents organizations and individuals in high-stakes white-collar trials and investigations, drawing on the team’s decades of collective experience as defense lawyers and former prosecutors, regulators and judges. Members of the government enforcement and investigations team include, in addition to Connolly and Jones, Seth D. DuCharme, Rachel B. Goldman, Thomas F. Kokalas and David A. Shargel in New York; Kevin D. Collins and Timothy A. Wilkins in Austin; Matthew G. Nielsen in Dallas; Jeffery B. Vaden in Houston; and Stephen L. Braga, Michael W. Brooks, Charles R. Mills, Britt Cass Steckman and Robert J. Wagman Jr. in Washington, DC. Last week, the team expanded its international reach with the arrival of Mark Hunting as a partner in the London office.

“I’m excited to begin the next chapter in my career and look forward to working with the stellar government enforcement and investigations team at Bracewell, including my friends and former colleagues Barbara Jones, Dan Connolly and Seth DuCharme,” said Mauskopf.

Mauskopf graduated magna cum laude and with highest honors with a B.A. from Brandeis University in 1979, and received her J.D., cum laude, from Georgetown University Law Center in 1982.