James P. Kennedy was an outstanding student of law, and it showed in his long and successful career. Right out of school, Kennedy took the job of a Confidential Law Assistant for the late Honorable Michael F. Dillon and Honorable Dolores Denman.
Kennedy’s career prospects started looking even better when in 1992, he got appointed as the Assistant U.S. Attorney for the United States Attorney’s Office for the Western District of New York. He worked in the same position for 14 years before moving up and getting selected for the role of Appellate Chief. Two years later, he received a promotion to Criminal Chief and worked for the office for three years. In 2010, William Hochul selected Kennedy to become the First Assistant U.S. Attorney. In 2016, he got the nomination as the Acting U.S. Attorney by Jeff Sessions.
As an Acting U.S. Attorney for the Western District of New York, Kennedy is the chief federal law enforcement officer of 17 New York Counties. All the district courts and offices in the Western District of New York, supervised by Kennedy, prosecute federal criminal cases. The District Office is also responsible for representing the U.S. in this territory.
Earlier in the ’90s, Kennedy became a member and Attorney of an OCDETF (Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Force). During this time in his career, Kennedy got a chance to prosecute a long list of high-profile cases along the line of violent crimes, police corruption, and narcotics. As an Appellate Chief, Kennedy found himself briefing and arguing several cases before the United States Court of Appeal.
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Achievements
Kennedy received many awards and recognition during his career. Most of them are from his time in the United States Attorney’s Office. One of his biggest accolades to date is the Attorney’s General John Marshall Award. This award is one of the most prestigious in the USA’s Department of Justice.
Kennedy is also a faculty member of the National Advocacy Center in Columbia, South Carolina. People interested in a law career wish to learn from Kennedy’s experiences and vast knowledge of the judicial system. So, he conducts various training sessions. He was also flown over to the Republic of Georgia to educate and train as a member of the Department of Justice’s Overseas Prosecutorial Development and Training Program.
With eagle-eyed Attorneys like James P. Kennedy Jr. in the judicial system, it gives hope to the people of the Western District of New York that no plea would go unheard, and no criminal would walk freely.
Academic Background
James P. Kennedy Jr. has made quite a name for himself in the Judicial System. The current interim U.S. Attorney for the Western District of New York, Kennedy graduated from Hamilton College as a Phi Beta Kappa and magna cum laude. He then pursued his Law Degree from the State University of New York at Buffalo Law School in 1988. There, he was once again cum laude graduate and held an editorial position in the Buffalo Law Review.
Contact Details
U.S. Attorney James P. Kennedy, Jr.
United States Attorney Office
Buffalo, NY Main Office
138 Delaware Avenue
Buffalo, NY 14202
(716) 843-5700
Rochester, NY Branch Office
100 State Street Suite 500
Rochester, NY 14614
(585) 263-6760
Social Media Profiles of James Kennedy
Username: U.S. Attorney for the Western District of New York
Handle: @usaowdny
URL: https://www.facebook.com/usaowdny/
Twitter Field
Username: WDNYnews
Twitter Handle: @WDNYnews
URL: https://twitter.com/WDNYnews
Updated: June 15, 2020
Trini E. Ross is the next State’s Attorney for the Western the District of New York. Her biography can be found here.
Updated: February 18, 2022