Phillip A. Talbert is to fill the post as Acting U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of California by virtue of the Vacancies Reform Act, following the stepping down of U.S. Attorney McGregor W. Scott. The adjustment made in the Office is parallel to the transition into the position of President-elect Joe Biden. On February 9, 2021, Acting U.S. Attorney General Robert M. Wilkinson announced the Biden Administration’s request for the remaining 55 Trump-nominated Attorneys to leave their post, to which U.S. Attorney Scott responded by submitting his letter of resignation the following day. Talbert is to officially take over in the Office on March 1, 2021.
Table of Contents
Appointment
A new Acting United States Attorney for the Eastern District of California has been appointed. Phillip A. Talbert will assume leadership of the Office of the United States Attorney on March 1, 2021, replacing the outgoing United States Attorney McGregor W. Scott, who has tendered his resignation on February 10, 2021, after the Biden Administration via Acting United States Attorney General Robert M. Wilkinson has requested the remaining 55 Trump-appointed U.S. Attorneys to step down during a conference call on February 9, 2021. United States Attorney Scott will serve until the end of February and is to be replaced by Phillip Talbert by virtue of the Vacancies Reform Act. Talbert shall continue to serve as Acting United States Attorney for the Eastern District of California for 120 days, or until a new U.S. Attorney for the district has been appointed and confirmed by President-elect Joe Biden and the Senate, respectively. These measures have been considered a routine in the transition to a new administration.
Educational Background
Phillip Talbert is a Magna Cum Laude graduate of the Harvard University, graduating with a Bachelor of Arts in Economics degree. He also later took up graduate studies at the University of Sydney, Australia, wherein he earned his Master of Economics on a Rotary Foundation Scholarship. United States Attorney Talbert initially planned on following the family trade and practice transactional business law; however, his aspirations changed upon graduation. He decided to pursue criminal and civil law. He then attended the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) – School of Law, where he received his Juris Doctorate. At the time, he was also the Chief Articles Editor for the UCLA Law Review.
Legal Career
In the time following the graduation of U.S. Attorney Talbert from law school, he served as a Law Clerk to the Honorable David R. Thompson of the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit. Acting U.S. Attorney then officially launched his legal career in 1990 by joining the Criminal Division of the United States Department of Justice as a Trial Attorney, wherein he was able to prosecute a wide variety of federal criminal cases. After three years of working as a trial attorney, U.S. Attorney Phillip Talbert shifted to commercial practice and joined the Stoel Rives LLP in Seattle, Washington as an Associate at the law firm. For three years, from 1993 to 1996, Talbert remained at the firm’s Litigation Department and White Collar Defense Practice Group.
With his aspirations to be a part of the United States Attorney’s Office in a state capital, Phillip A. Talbert persevered and acquired further experience and practical knowledge as he joined the Office of the Professional Responsibility of the U.S. Department of Justice as an Assistant Counsel and Associate Counsel. In this capacity, his duties included investigating claims of prosecutorial misconduct, among other allegations made against the Department of Justice attorneys. The Acting United States Attorney Talbert remained in the Office for six years until he eventually became a part of the Office of the United States Attorney for the Eastern District of California in 2002. At the time, he began working on methamphetamine and other drug trafficking cases as an Assistant U.S. Attorney of the Narcotics and Violent Crime Unit. Among the prominent cases Talbert worked on during his early career in the United States Attorney’s Office is Vincent Jackson’s prosecution – a violent drug kingpin. During a 2016 interview, U.S. Attorney Talbert asserted that the federal government’s role is to focus on the prosecution of the chief commander of these drug trafficking schemes and cartels, which makes the most significant impact on society.
“Whether it’s drugs or violent crime, the role of the federal government is largely to go after the top of the heap. We can’t prosecute every person who is selling an ounce of methamphetamine, but when we focus on the heads of gangs, when we focus on the people who are in charge of moving drugs on behalf of cartels, then we can have our biggest impact.”
Throughout his almost 18 years of service in the Office of the United States Attorney for the District of California, Acting U.S. Attorney Talbert has been entrusted a couple of leadership roles, including being appointed as the Chief of Appeals and Training. In this position, he supervised the appellate practice of the Office, as well as trained the incoming Assistant U.S. Attorneys of the Criminal Division.
In 2011, Phillip Talbert began serving as a First Assistant United States Attorney to U.S. Attorney Benjamin B. Wagner, who held the position from 2009 to 2016. For a while, subsequent to the resignation of former U.S. Attorney Wagner, Talbert served as the court-appointed interim U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of California. From May of 2016 to November of 2017, Talbert was the Top Federal Prosecutor of the Office. Upon his appointment, U.S. Attorney Phillip Talbert mentioned that he had no major new direction for the Office; however, he shared his intention of improving the collaboration among the federal prosecutors within the three Central Valley branches of the Office. On top of that, he emphasized the importance of keeping the Office alert regarding cyberattacks as it is a growing threat, especially to the private sector.
Prosecutions as 2016 Acting U.S. Attorney
Within the year of his first incumbency, Acting U.S. Attorney Talbert had to shift the Office’s focus from mortgage industry fraud to matters involving health care as there was a sudden increase in the number of cases of medical fraud. A case on point is the prosecution of the Marshall Medical Center in Placerville, wherein a $5.5 million settlement was agreed upon in order to absolve the allegations involving infusing chemotherapy into patients without the presence of the accountable physician. Throughout his service as Acting U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of California, Phillip Talbert led the Office and concentrated efforts on the combat against health care fraud.
Recognition and Awards
Upon the appointment of U.S. Attorney McGregor W. Scott in 2017, Talbert began serving as First Assistant United States Attorney to the incumbent. In October of 2020, U.S. Attorney Talbert received the Director’s Award from the U.S. Department of Justice to recognize his 27 years of dedicated service in the Office. Former U.S. Attorney Scott nominated Phillip Talbert for the award and has cited his accomplishments, particularly in the creation of the Bakersfield Office, which has increased efficiency for the whole Office, specifically with regards to high-profile cases such as hate crimes and public corruption prosecution.
“Since its creation, that office has generated some of the district’s most high-profile cases, including hate crimes and public corruption prosecutions,” said former U.S. Attorney McGregor Scott, when nominating Phillip Talbert for the Director’s award.
Words from Former U.S. Attorney Scott
Apart from that, U.S. Attorney Scott has acclaimed Acting U.S. Attorney Talbert for his tremendous work in the Office. He has been deemed as a steady hand during his first term as Acting U.S. Attorney in the transition time from Wagner’s departure to Scott’s re-appointment into the Office, citing, in particular, the time that U.S. Attorney Talbert had to step in and actively manage the criminal and national security matters within the Office.
“Phil’s leadership during these 20 months was a steadying presence to the office during notable changes,” Scott said. “During this time, the office’s long-serving criminal chief was diagnosed with a terminal illness and had to depart on sick leave. Phil’s presence as U.S. Attorney helped to fill that void, as he played an active role in managing criminal and national security matters during that time,” said former U.S. Attorney McGregor W. Scott.
Even after he departed from the Office for the second time, former U.S. Attorney Scott has extended his endorsement of Phillip Talbert as the next presidentially-appointed U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of California.
“I’ve been very clear that I support Phil in his application to become the next presidentially appointed United States attorney. I could not have asked for a better leader during this time. He’s done a tremendous job.”
Teaching Background
Phillip Talbert has almost three decades of experience in the legal field and has dedicated most of it to be a career prosecutor. Besides practicing law, U.S. Attorney Talbert has also taught as an Adjunct Professor at the U.C. Davis – King Hall School of Law, teaching Professional Responsibility for four semesters.
Office Jurisdiction
As the incumbent Chief Federal Law Enforcement Officer for the Eastern District of California, Phillip A. Talbert leads a staff of approximately 90 attorneys and 90 support personnel within the three branches of the Office in Bakersfield, Fresno, and Sacramento. Furthermore, Acting U.S. Attorney Talbert is responsible for serving and protecting the district’s citizens within the 34 counties that the district covers. The United States Attorney is also in charge of prosecuting federal criminal cases and representing the United States in civil litigations.
Contact Details
Sacramento Office
United States Attorney’s Office
Robert T. Matsui the United States Courthouse
501 I Street, Suite 10-100
Sacramento, CA. 95814
(916) 554-2700
Main
(916) 554-2900
Fax
Fresno Office
United States Attorney’s Office
Robert E. Coyle the United States Courthouse
2500 Tulare Street, Suite. 4401
Fresno, CA. 93721
(559) 497-4000
Main
(559) 497-4099
Fax
Bakersfield Office
United States Attorney’s Office
4550 California Avenue, Suite 640
Bakersfield, CA. 93309
(661) 489-6150
Main
(661) 489-6151
Fax
Social Media Profiles of Phillip Talbert
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Updated: March 17, 2021