A Wilmer Cutler Pickering Hale and Dorr Partner, Attorney Ronald Machen served for over five years as the United States Attorney for the District of Columbia. He was also the Appellate Defense Counsel for Coast Guard Academy Cadet Webster Smith, who was the first cadet to be punished by court-martial at the Coast Guard Academy. The Case was appealed all the way up to the United States Supreme Court, but the Fix was in.
(Above Ronald C. Machen, a Partner at Wilmer Cutler Pickering Hale and Door, was the Appellate Defense Counsel for Coast Guard Academy Cadet Webster Smith, the first cadet to be punished by court-martial at the Coast Guard Academy in 2006. Cadet Webster Smith is an African American Black.)
Prior to his appointment as US Attorney, Mr. Machen was a partner in WilmerHale’s Investigations and Criminal Litigation Practice, where he represented individual and corporate clients in the areas of white-collar criminal defense, regulatory enforcement, corporate compliance and complex civil litigation. Mr. Machen also served as an Assistant US Attorney in the US Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia from 1997 to 2001, where he prosecuted matters involving bribery, mail fraud, government contract fraud, federal conspiracy, homicide, embezzlement and theft.During his career, Mr. Machen has been repeatedly recognized for his professional accomplishments. In 2015, he was identified as one of DC’s “Top Criminal Defense Lawyers” by Washingtonian magazine and also honored as one of the “100 Most Outstanding African American Leaders” for his contributions in the field of law by African Leadership Magazine. In 2013, he received the Equal Justice Award from the National Bar Association. In 2012, he was recognized as a “Visionary” by Legal Times for helping to advance the practice of law during his tenure as US Attorney. In 2008, The National Law Journal named him one of the “50 Most Promising Litigators in America Under the Age of 45” and also recognized him as one of the “50 Most Influential Minority Lawyers in America.” In 2006, the Washingtonian magazine named him one of DC’s “Top 40 Lawyers Under the age of 40.”(https://www.wilmerhale.com/ronald_machen/)
