Brett L. Toman, United States Attorney for the District of Utah
Friday September 12, 2008
noon - 1 p.m.
Hinckley Institute of Politics (255 OSH)
Brett L. Tolman was nominated by President George W. Bush on June 9, 2006, and confirmed by the United States Senate on July 21, 2006, as the United States Attorney for the District of Utah.
Prior to becoming U.S. Attorney, Mr. Tolman served as Chief Counsel for Crime and Terrorism for the U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee and its Chairman, Senator Arlen Specter, from 2004 to July 2006 and Counsel for Crime and Terrorism for Chairman Orrin Hatch of the U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee from 2003 to 2004. During his tenure with the Senate Judiciary Committee, Mr. Tolman was responsible for drafting and negotiating passage of several significant pieces of legislation, including the USA PATRIOT Improvement and Reauthorization Act of 2005 and additions to the Violence Against Women Act. He also assisted in the confirmation hearings of Supreme Court Justices and nominees for the Department of Justice, including the Attorney General of the United States.He was honored in the April 9, 2005, issue of the National Journal as one of the most influential staffers on Capitol Hill.
Mr. Tolman served several years as an Assistant U.S. Attorney in the District of Utah. In addition to working in the Violent Crime Section where he prosecuted a variety of felony cases in federal court, including homicide, illegal gun manufacturing, carjacking, robbery, money laundering and bank robbery, Mr. Tolman coordinated Utah Project Safe Neighborhoods, a federal anti-gun violence reduction program. As Utah’s PSN Coordinator, Mr. Tolman worked with local, state, and federal law enforcement officers and prosecutors, community partners, and others to develop one of the nation’s most successful PSN programs. More than 1,000 federal firearms cases were developed and prosecuted under Mr. Tolman’s leadership.
Mr. Tolman clerked for U.S. District Chief Judge Dee Benson from 1998-2000 and was a litigation associate for Richards, Brandt, Miller and Nelson in Salt Lake City during the summer of 1997. He received his law degree cum laude from the J. Rueben Clark Law School at Brigham Young University in 1998 where he served as Law Review Board Lead Note and Comment Editor. He received a Bachelor of Arts degree from BYU in 1994 with a major in English.
