WASHINGTON, D.C. — LAWFUEL – The Justice Department today announced the appointments of Karen P. Hewitt to serve as the interim United States Attorney for the Southern District of California and Scott N. Schools to serve as the interim United States Attorney for the Northern District of California. Ms. Hewitt will succeed Carol Lam, who resigned today, and Mr. Schools will succeed Kevin Ryan, whose resignation takes effect tomorrow. Both Ms. Hewitt and Mr. Schools will serve on an interim basis until a United States Attorney is nominated by the President and confirmed by the Senate.
In addition to being a career federal prosecutor, Ms. Hewitt is an experienced attorney manager. She currently serves as the Executive Assistant United States Attorney in the Southern District of California, supervising approximately 230 attorneys and support staff, and participating in the oversight of the office’s civil and criminal work. Prior to her appointment as the Executive AUSA, Ms. Hewitt served as Deputy Chief of the district’s Civil Division from October 2003 to January 2006, and as an Assistant United States Attorney from October 2000 to October 2003. She previously served as a Trial Attorney and Litigation Team Leader in the Constitutional and Special Torts Section of the Justice Department’s Civil Division from May 1992 to October 2000, where she was co-counsel on a litigation team that received the Secretary’s Award for Distinguished Service from the Department of Health and Human Services. From August 1989 to May 1992, Ms. Hewitt was in private practice at the former San Diego firm of McInnis, Fitzgerald, Rees, Sharkey, and McIntyre.
Ms. Hewitt is a native of San Diego County. She graduated from the University of California at Berkeley, and received her law degree from the University of San Diego School of Law.
A career federal prosecutor, Mr. Schools is an experienced attorney manager who has previous experience as an interim United States Attorney. Mr. Schools currently serves as the General Counsel for the Justice Department’s Executive Office for United States Attorneys (EOUSA), leading a staff that is responsible for providing legal guidance in ethics and employee matters to all 94 United States Attorneys’ Offices across the Nation. From November 2001 to December 2005, he served as the First Assistant United States Attorney in the District of South Carolina overseeing approximately 125 attorneys and support staff. Mr. Schools served as the interim United States Attorney in South Carolina from February 2001 to November 2001, and as an Assistant United States Attorney in that district from August 1989 to August 1992 and from May 1997 to February 2001. During his tenure in the United States Attorney’s Office, he focused primarily on criminal prosecutions, specifically white collar cases involving bank fraud, mail fraud, wire fraud, and health care fraud. In 2004, just prior to assuming his current position as General Counsel in EOUSA, he prosecuted two death penalty cases. From August 1992 to May 1997, he was in private practice in Charleston, South Carolina. Upon graduating law school, he clerked for U.S. District Judge Falcon B. Hawkins for two years, from August 1987 to August 1989.
Mr. Schools graduated magna cum laude from Duke University with a degree in mathematics, and he received his law degree, with honors, from the University of Texas School of Law.
All media inquiries should be directed to the Office of Public Affairs at (202) 514-2007.
