Rachael S. Rollins

Rachael Splaine Rollins has been sworn in as the new presidentially nominated Chief Federal Law Enforcement Official for the District of Massachusetts. United States Attorney Rachael S. Rollins was nominated by President Joseph R. Biden, Jr. on July 16, 2021, and was confirmed by the U.S. Senate on December 8, 2021, by a Yea-Nay Vote of 51-50, with Vice President Kamala Harris breaking the tie in favor of Attorney Rollins’ confirmation. United States District Court Chief Judge F. Dennis Saylor IV administered the oath of office of U.S. Attorney Rachael Rollins as she became the Top Federal Prosecutor for the District of Massachusetts on January 10, 2022. U.S. Attorney Rollins was sworn in during a private ceremony in a federal court in Boston, where the date for a formal inauguration is yet to be set. United States Attorney Rollins steps up as the Top Federal Prosecutor for the district of Massachusetts, taking over the position from First Assistant U.S. Attorney Nathaniel R. Mendell, who assumed the role of Acting U.S. Attorney subsequent to the departure of former U.S. Attorney Andrew E. Lelling on February 28, 2021.

Educational Background

Top Federal Prosecutor Rachael Rollins earned her Bachelor of Arts in Education and African-American Studies from the University of Massachusetts – Amherst in May 1994. Following graduation, she attended law school at the Northeastern University School of Law, receiving her Juris Doctorate in May 1997. While in law school, U.S. Attorney Rollins received a number of academic scholarships and awards, including the Carol DiMaiti Stuart Scholarship from the Massachusetts Association of Women Lawyers in 1995; and the Massachusetts Black Judges Book Award from the Massachusetts Black Judges Association in 1996. Top Federal Prosecutor Rollins was also named Outstanding Law Fellow of the Year by the American Association of University Women in 1996 and National Outstanding Law Student of the Year by the Summa Publishing Group in 1997. U.S. Attorney Rollins also pursued an advanced postgraduate academic degree and earned her Master of Laws from the Georgetown University Law Center in June 1999. Years later, U.S. Attorney Rollins went to Harvard Business School and attended the Program for Leadership Development from 2015 to 2016.

Legal Career of State’s Attorney Rollins

Early Legal Career and Bar Admission

While in law school, U.S. Attorney Rollins worked as a Legal Intern in the National Basketball Players Association (NBPA) for less than a year in 1996. Upon graduation from law school, U.S. Attorney Rollins joined the Massachusetts Appeals Court as a Judicial Law Clerk for Associate Judge Frederick L. Brown. She remained in this capacity from August 1997 to the following year before working on the professional licensure examination for lawyers. In January 1999, U.S. Attorney Rachael Rollins was admitted into the Massachusetts Bar Association.

National Labor Relations Board

U.S. Attorney Rollins officially launched her legal career in July 1999, joining the National Labor Relations Board as a Field Attorney. In the next three years, until April 2002, U.S. Attorney Rollins worked on matters involving the National Labor Relations Act. She investigated charges, negotiated statements, drafted complaints, and prosecuted law violations. Specifically, U.S. Attorney Rollins analyzed and studied unfair labor practices, including illegal firings, threats, and failure to bargain during strikes and lockouts. As an attorney of color in the office, U.S. Attorney Rachael Rollins was often tasked to handle cases of low-income immigrants of color involving allegations of employers threatening these individuals. In addition, Top Federal Prosecutor Rollins has also conducted elections and acted as a Hearing Officer in representation proceedings.

Private Practice & Plymouth County District Attorney’s Office

In April 2002, U.S. Attorney Rollins ended her service in the National Labor Relations Board to join Bingham McCutchen LLP as an Associate and then Counsel. Shifting to private practice, U.S. Attorney Rollins then focused her area of practice on the litigation of a broad range of civil actions in state and federal courts, as well as before administrative and regulatory agencies. While working in the litigation section of the law firm, U.S. Attorney specialized in labor and employment matters, on top of complex civil litigation, criminal defense, and First Amendment issues. For approximately five years, from April 2002 to December 2006, Top Federal Prosecutor Rachael Rollins assisted clients in matters involving significant labor issues, such as investigations before the National Labor Relations Board. She has represented several individuals and entities presented with subpoenas from the federal grand jury and has frequently defended corporations in disputes.

Moreover, U.S. Attorney Rollins has had newspapers as clients, with whom she has provided representation and assistance in legal matters. Top Federal Prosecutor Rollins also often dealt with legal matters relating to strikes and union organizing campaigns, along with assessing labor obligations following acquisitions or mergers. In 2003, from January to May, U.S. Attorney Rollins worked as a Special Assistant District Attorney at the Plymouth County District Attorney’s Office, all while performing duties as an Associate at Bingham McCutchen LLP.

Before joining the Office of the United States Attorney for the District of Massachusetts, U.S. Attorney Rachael Rollins remained in private practice. She did a short stint at the Seyfarth Shaw LLP from January to September of 2007, representing businesses in various aspects of state and federal labor and employment law issues. Furthermore, in this capacity, U.S. Attorney Rollins was responsible for counseling clients on labor and employment matters and conducting discrimination, harassment, and labor law training.

U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Massachusetts

United States Attorney Rollins officially became a part of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Massachusetts in September 2007. She was appointed as an Assistant U.S. Attorney and handled matters focusing on appeals, civil defense litigation, civil enforcement, and criminal prosecutions. Top Federal Prosecutor Rollins was initially designated as an AUSA in the office’s Civil Division, wherein she worked on affirmative and defensive cases involving asset forfeiture, Bivens action, civil commitments, employment, environmental issues, the False Claims Act, the Federal Tort Claims Act, health care fraud, immigration, qui tam litigation, social security claims, and Touhy matters. Eventually, U.S. Attorney Rollins was assigned to the office’s Criminal Division, where she worked with the Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Forces (OCDETF) and the Public Corruption & Special Prosecutions Unit. More notably, U.S. Attorney Rollins was selected to serve on a small team of attorneys to handle civil commitment trials under the Adam Walsh Act. At the time, only the Massachusetts and North Carolina jurisdictions dealt with cases of the sort.

MassDOT, MBTA, and Massport

From September 2011 to 2013, U.S. Attorney Rollins was the General Counsel of the Massachusetts Department of Transportation (MassDOT) and the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority (MBTA). In this capacity, she was directly responsible for all legal and regulatory affairs of these offices. At the time, U.S. Attorney Rollins led a group of approximately 150 employees and also conducted internal and external teams during the largest procurement in the history of the Commonwealth. From September 2013 to July 2015, Top Federal Prosecutor Rollins was appointed the Chief Legal Counsel at the Massachusetts Port Authority (Massport). In this position, she oversaw all the legal and regulatory matters of the $600 million 1,100-personnel agency. Additionally, she was a member of the executive leadership team and was responsible for corporate secretary, Board activities, and compliance.

NAACP and District Attorney’s Office for the Suffolk County

After her service at the Massachusetts Port Authority, U.S. Attorney Rollins took time off in her legal career and attended the Program for Leadership Development of the Harvard Business School. In January 2017, U.S. Attorney Rollins returned and became the Chair of Legal Redress of the Boston Branch of the NAACP. She remained in this capacity until March 2018, when she took on the endeavor of being a candidate for the District Attorney of Suffolk County. Top Federal Prosecutor Rachael Rollins won her primary election on September 4, 2018, and was the Democratic Nominee for the position until November 6, 2018, when she won the general election and became the District Attorney-elect. U.S. Attorney Rollins was officially inaugurated for the position on January 2, 2019, and served as the District Attorney for Suffolk County until she was named the Chief Federal Law Enforcement Official for the District of Massachusetts.

Honors and Awards

Top Federal Prosecutor Rachael S. Rollins is a woman of exceptional skills and dedication to the law, which has not gone unnoticed. In 2002, she was honored as one of 10 outstanding young leaders committed to improving the lives of the residents within the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. U.S. Attorney Rollins was also named Lawyer of the Year by the Volunteer Lawyers Project in 2005 and the Massachusetts Lawyers Weekly in 2018. The Boston Business Journal also honored U.S. Attorney Rollins and named her 40-Under-40 in 2009 and Power 50 in 2020.

Office Jurisdiction

Now the top-ranking federal law enforcement official in the District of Massachusetts, U.S. Attorney Rachael S. Rollins is leading a team of over 250 federal prosecutors and support personnel. The Office of the United States Attorney for the District of Massachusetts has jurisdiction over 14 counties and comprises three offices in Boston, Springfield, and Worcester. As Chief Federal Law Enforcement Official, U.S. Attorney Rachael Rollins shall manage and oversee the prosecution of federal crimes within the district’s jurisdiction and is also responsible for representing the United States in affirmative and defensive civil cases and collecting debts owed to the United States.

Contact Details of State’s Attorney Rachel Rollins

Full Name: Rachael S. Rollins
District/State: Massachusetts
Public email ID: team@rollins4da.com

Boston Main Office

John Joseph Moakley
United States Federal Courthouse
1 Courthouse Way
Suite 9200
Boston, MA 02210
(617) 748-3100
Main

Springfield Branch Office

Federal Building and Courthouse
300 State Street
Suite 230
Springfield, MA 01105
(413) 785-0235
Phone
(413) 785-0394
Fax

Worcester Branch Office

Donohue Federal Building
595 Main St, Rm. 206
Worcester, MA 01608
(508) 368-0100
Main
508) 756-7120
Fax

Media Inquiries

usama.media@usdoj.gov
E-mail Address

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Updated: May 3, 2023