Attorney General: Loretta E. Lynch

Loretta E. Lynch was born on May 21, 1959, in Greensboro, North Carolina. She received her A.B., cum laude, from Harvard College in 1981, and her J.D. from Harvard Law School in 1984.

In 1990, after a period in private practice, Ms. Lynch joined the United States Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of New York, located in Brooklyn, the city she considers her adopted home. There, she forged an impressive career prosecuting cases involving narcotics, violent crimes, public corruption, and civil rights, including the high-profile case of Abner Louima, a Haitian immigrant who was sexually assaulted by uniformed police officers in a Brooklyn police precinct in 1997.

In 1999, President Bill Clinton appointed her to lead the office as United States Attorney, a post she held until 2001. In 2002, she joined Hogan & Hartson LLP (now Hogan Lovells) as a partner in the firm’s New York office. While in private practice, Ms. Lynch performed extensive pro bono work for the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda, established to prosecute those responsible for human rights violations in the 1994 genocide in that nation. As Special Counsel to the Tribunal, she was responsible for investigating allegations of witness tampering and false testimony.

In 2010, President Barack Obama asked Ms. Lynch to resume her leadership of the United States Attorney’s Office in Brooklyn. Under her direction, the office successfully prosecuted numerous corrupt public officials, terrorists, cybercriminals and human traffickers, among other important cases.

President Obama announced his intention to nominate Ms. Lynch as Attorney General on November 8, 2014 and she was sworn in as the 83rd Attorney General of the United States by Vice President Joe Biden on April 27, 2015.

Ms. Lynch is the daughter of Lorenzo and Lorine Lynch of Durham, N.C., whose shared commitment to justice inspired her career in public service.