2024 Vacketta-DLA Piper Lecture on the Role of Government and the Law
Prosecuting Politics: Is it a Solution to Our Current Democratic Gridlock?
Featuring: Byung J. "BJay" Pak
Partner, Atlanta & Washington, DC
Alston & Bird LLC
Friday, September 13, 2024
12-1 p.m.
Max L. Rowe Auditorium
Law Building
Livestream: https://www.youtube.com/live/Ua5vu0EsXqI
Mr. Pak will share his perspective on how the current political climate and recent events shifted enormous power to, and placed pressure on, prosecutors to prosecute crimes touching upon elective politics, and how prosecutorial discretion appropriately might be exercised under these circumstances.
Lecture is free and open to the public.
A reception will follow in the Peer and Sarah Pedersen Pavilion.
About the Speaker
BJay Pak is an accomplished professional with leadership experience in strategic planning and execution, in efficiently deploying and managing human capital, and in regulatory compliance. Through his extensive governmental and private sector leadership roles, Mr. Pak gained strong insights into domestic and international organizational operations of regulated industries in areas such as cybersecurity, and ethics and compliance, and the Board’s role and responsibilities with respect to those areas. He uses his analytical skills to understand multi-layered problems, and to formulate innovative strategies to meet organizational goals. Most recently, Mr. Pak served as the 25th presidentially appointed U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Georgia. He is the first senate-confirmed U.S. Attorney of Korean descent in U.S. history.
About the Lecture
The Vacketta-DLA Piper Lecture on the Role of Government and the Law is made possible through the generosity of Carl Vacketta, ’65, and DLA Piper, which has more than 4,200 lawyers in offices in Asia Pacific, Europe, the Middle East, and the United States; and represents more clients in a broader range of geographies and practice disciplines than any other law firm in the world.
The Series is a component of The Marbury Institute, named for William L. Marbury, Jr. (1901-1988), who was instrumental in the development of the firm and devoted his career to public and community service. The Institute serves as DLA Piper’s initiative to promote the highest ideals of the legal profession.
Previous speakers include:
The Honorable John Paul Stevens, October 2002
Former U.S. House Majority Leader Dick Armey, October 2003
General Joseph W. Ralston, USAF (Ret), October 2004
Senator George J. Mitchell, October 2005
Governor James Blanchard, October 2006
U.S. Ambassador Marc Grossman, October 2007
Admiral James Loy, October 2008
Senator William Cohen, October 2009
U.S. Ambassador Craig Kelley, October 2010
U.S. Ambassador Nicholas Burns, September 2011
U.S. Ambassador Jeffrey Davidow, October 2012
Senator Thomas Daschle, October 2013
Commissioner (EEOC) Chai R. Feldblum, October 2014
Former U.S. Secretary of Transportation & Illinois Congressman Ray LaHood, October 2015
Former Legal Adviser of the U.S. Department of State Harold Hongju Koh, October 2016
Governor Jim Edgar, October 2017
Former Solicitor General of the United States Paul Clement, October 2018
Hendrik Hartog, Professor, Princeton University, October 2019
Obama Foundation Executive Vice President Michael Strautmanis, March 2023
Professor Lori Ringhand, October 2023