“Do the Right Thing”: Reflections on Being a Federal Prosecutor

“Do the right thing” is a common refrain for prosecutors. There is an inherent privilege in going to work every day with the only objective of doing the right thing. Join OPIA for a community discussion with  , Assistant United States Attorney and Deputy Chief of the National Security and Cybercrime Section in the Eastern District of New York. Ellen will disabuse you of the notion that you need to have a background in the military or intelligence to work in National Security, explain the threat landscape and types of national security prosecutions brought by the Department of Justice (international terrorism, domestic terrorism, counterintelligence, counterproliferation, and cyber-threat actors), and discuss more broadly the role of an Assistant United States Attorney. We will explore the thrill of criminal trials and hot bench appeals, the importance of judgment for a prosecutor, and what is surprising about being an AUSA.

Lunch provided. Please RSVP below! Open to the HLS community.

If you or an event participant requires disability-related accommodations, please contact HLS Accessibility Services at accessibility@law.harvard.edu two weeks in advance of the event.

Ellen Sise is an Assistant United States Attorney for the Eastern District of New York, and Deputy Chief of the National Security and Cybercrime Section. Ellen is a Computer Hacking and Intellectual Property (“CHIP”) coordinator as well as the Office’s Disruptive Technology Strike Force coordinator. Before joining the government, Ellen worked as an associate at Kirkland & Ellis LLP, a white-collar boutique firm, and served as a law clerk to the Honorable Ann M. Donnelly of the United States District Court for the Eastern District of New York. Ellen is a graduate of Harvard Law School and the University of Pennsylvania.