Deirdre M. Daly, who served as the United States Attorney for the District of Connecticut from 2013 to 2017, has joined the firm as a partner. Ms. Daly will focus on internal investigations, monitoring, compliance counseling, white collar criminal defense, and complex civil litigation as a member of the firm’s Litigation and Government & Internal Investigations practices.
As U.S. Attorney for four years, Ms. Daly was the chief federal law enforcement officer in Connecticut, overseeing federal criminal and civil matters in the state including national security; cybercrime; securities, FCPA, healthcare and other financial fraud; public corruption; civil rights; environmental offenses; violent crime and narcotics distribution. During her tenure, she was appointed by the Attorney General of the United States to serve as a member of the Attorney General’s Advisory Committee of United States Attorneys (AGAC), providing advice on policy, management, and operational issues impacting the Department of Justice and the 94 offices of U.S. Attorneys.
Michael Herling, a founding partner of the Firm, stated: “We are honored that after recently completing a distinguished career as Connecticut’s U.S. Attorney, Deirdre has decided to join our firm. Her sound judgment and broad experience as a leader and attorney, in both the public and private sectors, will be a tremendous asset to our firm and our clients.”
Andrew Calamari, another new partner who recently joined the firm and served as Regional Director of the SEC’s New York office when Ms. Daly was United States Attorney, added: “I look forward to working with Deirdre again. We had the great pleasure of working together on complex securities matters while I was at the SEC. She brings to the firm a sterling reputation and enormous talent and credibility that will serve our clients well.”
“I am thrilled to join Finn Dixon & Herling, a firm dedicated to excellence with a strong culture of teamwork and collaboration,” said Ms. Daly. “In my return to private practice, I feel fortunate to be partnering with such exceptionally talented and experienced lawyers.”
Before serving as U.S. Attorney, Ms. Daly was in private practice for twelve years representing a broad group of businesses, organizations and executives from diverse industries in white-collar criminal investigations, SEC enforcement actions and corporate internal investigations and monitoring. For close to ten years, she also served as an environmental and safety monitor for a large public utility.
President Barack Obama nominated Ms. Daly to serve as Connecticut’s 51st U.S. Attorney, making her the first woman to be presidentially appointed to lead an office that was originally established in 1789. During her tenure, she prioritized the prosecution of complex financial crime, public corruption, cybercrime, civil rights, human trafficking, child exploitation, opioid distribution and gang violence, as well as outreach to minority communities and close collaboration with police departments.
In total, Ms. Daly worked as a federal prosecutor in the Southern District of New York and Connecticut for 20 years. In New York, she supervised and prosecuted a wide range of cases ranging from racketeering and murder to corruption and fraud. In Connecticut, before becoming U.S. Attorney, she was the First Assistant U.S. Attorney, responsible for the oversight and work of the 65 attorneys in the three offices of the Criminal and Civil Divisions.
Ms. Daly is a graduate of Dartmouth College and Georgetown University Law Center. After law school, she served as a law clerk for the Honorable Lloyd F. MacMahon, U.S. District Judge for the Southern District of New York.