A Boston lawyer who was one of many remaining names being thought-about for the U.S. Attorney position in Massachusetts, earlier than Rachael Rollins was finally picked and later resigned in shame, has been appointed as the highest prosecutor at The Hague for the Kosovo conflict crimes tribunal.
Kim West, a companion at Ashcroft Law Firm in Boston, was lately chosen because the Specialist Prosecutor on the Kosovo Specialist Chambers and Specialist Prosecutor’s Office in The Hague, Netherlands.
West was one of many high-profile native legal professionals who had been being checked out because the alternative for Andrew Lelling to guide the Bay State U.S. Attorney’s Office. Rollins, the Suffolk County district lawyer on the time, was later picked as U.S. Attorney — and he or she lately resigned following bombshell investigative studies from two federal watchdog businesses.
Instead of the skilled and achieved West working the Massachusetts U.S. Attorney’s Office, she’s now heading to the European Union-backed courtroom.
“I am extremely grateful to the European Union for selecting me for this position,” West stated in a press release. “My colleagues at Ashcroft Law Firm know that my ardour has lengthy been centered round worldwide investigations. They acknowledged that this is a chance of a lifetime, and have all been very supportive.
“This new role allows me to continue working with victims, witnesses, and the international community to ensure that perpetrators of war crimes are brought to justice,” West added.
She started her authorized profession as assistant district lawyer in Plymouth County. Then after the 9/11 terrorist assaults, she joined the Anti-Terrorism and National Security Unit on the Massachusetts U.S. Attorney’s Office.
Later, she served for 5 years as a trial lawyer on the International Criminal Tribunal for the previous Yugoslavia in The Hague, the place she prosecuted Radovan Karadzic — who was discovered responsible of directing the genocide of greater than 7,000 Bosnian Muslims within the worst bloodbath on European soil because the Holocaust.
Then as chief of the Criminal Bureau for the Attorney General’s Office in Massachusetts, West supervised a staff of greater than 120 professionals answerable for investigating and prosecuting a variety of monetary, fraud, public corruption, narcotics, gaming, human trafficking, and different offenses.
West at Ashcroft Law Firm has centered on white-collar instances, primarily representing worldwide shoppers.
“We are immensely proud of her achievements and grateful for the contributions she has made to our firm,” stated Michael Sullivan, managing companion of Ashcroft Law Firm’s Boston workplace. “People from around the world have sought her help because of her empathy and commitment to international justice and accountability. Those same characteristics will guide her in her new position.”
Former U.S. Attorney General John Ashcroft, the agency’s founder and chairman, stated of West, “Her appointment to the European Union-backed court is not at all surprising because her career has been defined by a dedication to justice on a global scale. We are sad to be losing Kim as our colleague, but by selecting her for this key position, the international community has chosen the ideal steward to oversee the important responsibilities of investigating war crimes in Kosovo.”
Source: www.bostonherald.com”