OUR FACULTY

• Tenured and Tenure-Track Faculty
• Visiting Faculty
• Special Faculty Appointments
• Pence Law Library Faculty
• Adjunct Faculty (Summer 2012)
• Adjunct Faculty (Spring 2012)
• Adjunct Faculty (Fall 2011)
• Emeritus Law Faculty

Carlos F. Acosta, currently an adjunct associate professor of law, has been at the American University Washington College of Law since 1997. Professor Acosta serves in the United States Department of Justice Criminal Division's Office of Overseas Prosecutorial Development, Assistance and Training (OPDAT) as the Mérida Program Manager. In that role Professor Acosta focuses on supporting the Department of Justice / Department of State's mission of fighting organized crime in Mexico via several programs, including Prosecutorial Capacity Building, Strengthening Government of Mexico Law Enforcement Integrity Systems, Certification of Forensic Laboratories, Extradition Training, Asset Forfeiture, Evidence Preservation and Chain of Custody, and Pretrial Case Resolution.

Immediately prior to this position, he served as Deputy State's Attorney for Prince George's County, Maryland. In that role, Professor Acosta was directly responsible for the Homicide, Violent Crime, Gun, Felony Trial, Economic Crime and Grand Jury / Screening Units, in addition to his administrative functions and trial work. Previously, he was a Trial Attorney for the United States Department of Justice Criminal Division's Gang Squad. Professor Acosta has also served as a Special Assistant United States Attorney for the District of Columbia in the Organized Crime and Narcotics Trafficking Section. He began his prosecutorial career as a member of the Montgomery County, Maryland Office of the State's Attorney. He also has experience in various private settings, from small firm practice in the areas of criminal defense and personal injury to a corporate firm practice setting in aviation disaster litigation.

Professor Acosta has served as the President of the Maryland Hispanic Bar. He has served on the Maryland Governor's Juvenile Justice Advisory Council as well as the Governor's Family Violence Council. Additionally, he has also served on the Board of Directors for the Montgomery County Hispanic Chamber of Commerce. Professor Acosta's own legal mentoring began during his judicial clerkship in 1991 for the Honorable Vincent E. Ferretti, Jr. in the Circuit Court for Montgomery County, Maryland.

Carlos F. Acosta received both a Bachelor of Arts in English and a Master of Arts in English (Rhetoric) from the University of Maryland. In 1991, he received his J.D. degree from the Southern Methodist University School of Law in Dallas, Texas. He is licensed in the State of Maryland and the District of Columbia.