Jennifer Arbittier Williams has been appointed as the new Acting United States Attorney for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania, following the resignation of former U.S. Attorney William M. McSwain on January 22, 2021. The changes in the Office was made official beginning on January 23, 2021, in compliance with the Vacancy Reform Act.
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Education and Academic Honors
Graduating as Magna Cum Laude, U.S. Attorney Williams earned her Bachelor of Arts degree in American History from the University of Pennsylvania in 1992. She subsequently received her Juris Doctorate from the University of Pennsylvania Law School, graduating Cum Laude in 1995. U.S. Attorney Williams graduated as a member of the Order of the Coif and also served as a Senior Editor of the Journal of International Business Law.
Legal Career
Straight out of law school, U.S. Attorney Jennifer Williams joined the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania as a Law Clerk under the Honorable Anita B. Brody, serving from September of 1995 to September of the following year and after that clerked under the Honorable Anthony J. Scirica of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit, from 1996 to 1997.
Prior to joining the United States Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania, U.S. Attorney Williams has served as a Litigation Associate at the Dechert Price & Rhoads – an international law firm with areas of practices in asset management, complex litigation, corporate and securities, finance, and real estate, as well as financial services. She served as a Litigation Associate for almost two years, from September 1997 to June 1999. Two months after her resignation from the Dechert Price & Rhoads, U.S. Attorney Jennifer Williams joined the Morvillo, Abramowitz, Grand, Iason & Silberberg P.C., also as a Litigation Associate, providing legal advisory services and working in practice areas including criminal, civil, and securities litigation. U.S. Attorney Williams served in the firm for almost three years, from August of 1999 to June of 2002. For approximately five years, U.S. Attorney Williams served as a litigation associate, focusing on white-collar criminal defense and first amendment litigation.
United States Attorney Jennifer Arbittier Williams first came into the Office of the United States Attorney for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania as an Assistant United States Attorney of the Criminal Division in 2002. She consistently served in the position for about 15 years, from July of 2002 to April of 2018. In between those years, U.S. Attorney Williams held several leadership roles, including being the Chief of the National Security and Cyber Crime Unit of the Criminal Division for about one and a half years, from December of 2016 to April 2018. She has been serving in the unit as a National Security Cyber Specialist – investigating and prosecuting on matters such as computer intrusions and denial of service attacks, cyberstalking, domestic and international terrorism threats and attacks, espionage, and mishandling of classified information, hoax terrorism threats, theft of intellectual property, and the unlicensed export of military articles and other technology to foreign countries. U.S. Attorney Williams served in the capacity beginning in July of 2012 and continued to serve in the position up to the present, even after her years of working as the Chief of the unit. She has been a National Security Cyber Specialist for almost nine years. She has also served as a Crisis Management Coordinator at the same time, starting in July of 2018, where she was responsible for critical incident response. U.S. Attorney Williams has also previously served as a legal advisor in several special events, including the September 2015 Papal visit to Philadelphia.
U.S. Attorney Williams was appointed as the First Assistant United States Attorney of the Eastern District of Pennsylvania in April of 2018. She served as second in command to former U.S. Attorney William M. McSwain, overseeing the daily operations of the Criminal, Civil, and Administrative Divisions of the Office.
Several Notable Prosecutions of U.S. Attorney Jennifer Arbittier Williams
With 25 years of experience as a prosecutor, U.S. Attorney Jennifer Williams has a unique combination of expertise in different fields, including in the areas of practice of crisis preparedness and response, intelligence-agency coordination, and national security and cybercrime investigations. She has been the lead prosecutor in several cases. One of the significant cases she handled was the first prosecution in the history of the Eastern District of Pennsylvania that concerned charges of material support of terrorism. The United States Attorney Williams has also been lead prosecutor to a case of telemarking fraud, which amounted to about $75 million.
Honors and Awards
Over the course of her legal career, U.S. Attorney Williams has been granted numerous special achievement awards and honors, such as the Anti-Defamation League’s SHIELD Award. She was recognized for her exceptional work and success in combating extremism, hate crimes, terrorism, as well as for protecting civil rights. In addition, U.S. Attorney Jennifer Williams has been recognized for her impressive commitment to consumer protection, in part of a partnership with the Federal Trade Commission. Apart from her work in the Office, U.S. Attorney Williams remained engaged in many of her community’s activities, including serving in the Chester Youth Courts Program as an Instructor and a Program Developer.
Office Jurisdiction
As the incumbent Chief Federal Law Enforcement Officer for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania, Jennifer Arbittier Williams is responsible for one of the nation’s largest districts. The Office has jurisdiction over 4,700 square miles and also serves over five million people within the district’s nine counties. Acting United States Attorney Williams oversees a staff of approximately 140 Assistant United States Attorneys, as well as 105 support personnel.
Contact Details
Full Name: Jennifer Arbittier Williams
District/State: Eastern District of Pennsylvania
Public email ID: jennifer.a.williams@usdoj.gov
Philadelphia Branch Office
U.S. Attorney’s Office
615 Chestnut Street
Philadelphia, PA
(215) 861-8200
Main
Allentown Branch Office
U.S. Attorney’s Office
504 W. Hamilton St.,
Allentown, PA
(215) 861-8540
Main
(215) 861-8618
Fax
Public Affairs Officer
Jennifer Crandall
(215) 861-8300
Main
jennifer.Crandall@usdoj.gov
E-mail
Delivery Service
Philadelphia Branch Office
U.S. Attorney’s Office
615 Chestnut Street, Suite 1250
Philadelphia, PA 19106
Allentown Branch Office
U.S. Attorney’s Office
504 W. Hamilton St., #3701
Allentown, PA 18101
Social Media Profiles
LinkedIn:
Username: Jennifer Arbittier Williams
URL: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jennifer-arbittier-williams-18ab8ab/
Facebook:
Username: N/A
URL: N/A
YouTube:
Username: U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania
URL: https://www.youtube.com/c/usao-edpa
Twitter Field
Username: U.S. Attorney EDPA
Tag: @USAO_EDPA
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Updated: February 10, 2021