Jeff Vaden, former First Assistant United States Attorney in the Southern District of Texas, is a Partner in Bracewell's White Collar Defense Practice Group. Prior to joining the firm, he served for more than 11 years in the U.S. Department of Justice Southern District of Texas, based in Houston.
At the U.S. Attorney's Office, Mr. Vaden was responsible for directing criminal prosecutions and grand jury investigations in areas including U.S. export controls and sanctions, bank fraud, public corruption, immigration, money laundering, counterterrorism, and national security. His honors include the Director's Award for Superior Performance in 2008, the Immigration and Customs Enforcement Assistant Secretary's Award in 2007, and the 20th Anniversary National Award, Organized Crime and Drug Enforcement Task Force in 2002.
He has worked on domestic and international matters with federal law enforcement and investigative agencies, including the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Drug Enforcement Administration, Immigrations and Customs Enforcement, Internal Revenue Service, Department of Commerce-Bureau of Industry and Security, Department of Homeland Security, Department of the Treasury, Department of Housing and Urban Development, U.S. Secret Service, U.S. Marshal's Service, and the Diplomatic Security Service.
During Mr. Vaden's tenure at DOJ, he tried eight cases to jury verdict in Federal District Court and served as a Senior Litigation Counsel and a Training Officer for the Terrorism and National Security Section. Before joining DOJ, he served as an Assistant District Attorney in Harris County, Texas for five years, trying 60 first-chair jury trials to verdict.
