OUR FACULTY

• Tenured and Tenure-Track Faculty
• Visiting Faculty
• Special Faculty Appointments
• Pence Law Library Faculty
• Adjunct Faculty (Summer 2013)
• Adjunct Faculty (Spring 2013)
• Adjunct Faculty (Fall 2012)
• Emeritus Law Faculty

FACULTY SCHOLARSHIP

Randall D. Eliason spent twelve years as an Assistant United States Attorney for the District of Columbia, working in various areas including misdemeanors, grand jury, narcotics, general felonies, and the Violent Crime Unit. For more than eight years, he specialized in white collar crime as a member of the Public Corruption/Government Fraud section. From 1999 to 2001, he served as Chief of that section, supervising a staff of eleven AUSA’s prosecuting white collar cases in federal court.

Professor Eliason is the recipient of numerous awards and commendations from the U.S. Department of Justice, Federal Bureau of Investigation, Washington D.C. Metropolitan Police Department, and other law enforcement agencies. While at the U.S. Attorney’s office, he lectured at the Department of Justice National Advocacy Center in South Carolina and at the Attorney General’s Advocacy Institute in Washington, D.C. He also served as the Professional Responsibility Officer (ethics advisor) for the Criminal Division.

He is a frequent media commentator on issues related to corporate and white collar crime, and has appeared on PBS’s Frontline, NBC’s Nightly News, NPR’s Morning Edition, CNN, MSNBC, and elsewhere. His writings on federal criminal law have been published in law reviews, legal periodicals, and newspapers including the Washington Post and the Chicago Tribune.

Prior to joining the U.S. Attorney's Office, Professor Eliason was in private practice at the Washington, D.C. law firms of Hogan & Hartson and Zuckerman, Spaeder, where his practice involved civil litigation in a wide variety of areas.

He currently teaches a course on white collar crime at the American University, Washington College of Law and the George Washington University Law School. In 2008, the students at GW law school presented him with the Distinguished Adjunct Faculty Teaching Award.

He received his J.D. cum laude in 1985 from Harvard Law School, where he served as an editor and as co-chair of the Developments Office of the Harvard Law Review. He received his B.A. summa cum laude from the University of North Dakota in 1982.

• Selected Publications

  • Randall Eliason, Did Barry Bonds Really Obstruct Justice?, Natl. L.J. (May 11, 2011).
  • Randall Eliason, The Future of Honest Services Fraud, Natl. L.J. (July 5, 2010).
  • Randall Eliason, The Truth About 'Honest Services', Natl. L.J. (Oct. 5, 2009).
  • Randall Eliason, Surgery with a Meat Axe: Using Honest Services Fraud to Prosecute Federal Corruption, 99 J. Crim. L. & Criminology 929 (Fall 2009).
  • Randall Eliason, We Need To Indict Them, Leg. Times (Sept. 22, 2008).
  • Randall Eliason, The Problems With the Reporter's Privilege, 57 Am. U. L. Rev. 1341 (2008).
  • Randall Eliason, What Exactly Do You Mean? From Bill Clinton to Larry Craig, Politicians Are Rushing to the Evasive Arts, Leg. Times (Sept. 17, 2007).
  • Randall Eliason, Justice Suffers When It's Political, Chi. Trib. (May 24, 2007).
  • Randall Eliason, Striking Out: The BALCO Reporters Shielded a Lying Lawyer. They are No Heroes., Leg. Times (Mar. 19, 2007).
  • Randall Eliason, A Federal Privilege Law Will Not Keep Journalists Out of Jail, Leg. Times (Dec. 18, 2006).
  • Randall Eliason, Threat is Exaggerated, USA Today (Nov. 3, 2006).
  • Randall Eliason, The Prosecutor’s Role: A Response to Professor Davis, 2 Crim. L. Br. 15 (Fall 2006).
  • Randall Eliason, It's Just Bribery as Usual, Leg. Times (Mar. 2006).
  • Randall Eliason, Leakers, Bloggers, and Fourth Estate Inmates: The Misguided Pursuit of a Reporter’s Privilege, 24 Cardozo Arts & Ent. L.J. 385 (2006).
  • Randall Eliason, Plame and Unjust Blame (op-ed), Wash. Post (Mar. 9, 2005).

• Selected Presentations

  • Randall Eliason, Congressional Testimony, The Free Flow of Information Act of 2007 (House Judiciary Committee, Wash., D.C., June 21, 2007).
  • Randall Eliason, Panel Discussion, The American Prosecutor: Power, Discretion, and Accountability (American University Washington College of Law, Wash., D.C., Jan. 31, 2007).
  • Randall Eliason, Panel Discussion, Prosecutors in the Newsroom: New Rules of Engagement? (American Society of Newspaper Editors, First Amendment Summit, National Press Club, D.C., Jan. 18, 2007).
  • Randall Eliason, Panel Discussion, Do We Need a Federal Shield Law for Reporters? (Scripps Howard First Amendment Center, University of Kentucky, Lexington, Ky., Oct. 20, 2006).
  • Randall Eliason, Speech, Sources and Leaks: When Law Enforcement and Media Interests Collide (Debate at the Kentucky Bar Association Annual Convention, Covington, Ky., June 16, 2006).
  • Randall Eliason, Speech, Fair and Honest Services Fraud – 18 U.S.C. 1346 (National Assoc. of Public Pension Attorneys, Wash. D.C., Feb. 9, 2006).
  • Randall Eliason, Panel Discusion, Lock ‘em Up? Should Reporters Go to Jail for Refusal to Testify Before Grand Juries? (American University Washington College of Law, Wash., D.C., Mar. 2, 2005).

• Selected Media Appearances

  • The Kojo Nnamdi Show, "OverCriminalization? The Supreme Court Considers "Honest Services"" (Am. U. Radio Dec. 16, 2009) (Radio).
  • The McLaughlin Group, "New Journalism" (Public Broadcasting Services Sept. 2, 2007) (Television Appearance).
  • Frontline, "News War: Part II" (PBS Feb. 20, 2007) (Television Program, Clip 1).
  • Frontline, "News War: Part II" (PBS Feb. 20, 2007) (Television Program, Clip 2).
  • Real Sports With Bryant Gumbel, "BALCO Steroid Investigation and Reporter’s Privilege" (HBO Oct. 31, 2006) (Television Program).
  • Morning Edition, "The David Safavian Trial (Abramoff Scandal)" (National Public Radio May 31, 2006) (Radio Broadcast).
  • Anderson Cooper 360, "Congressional Corruption Investigations" (CNN May 25, 2006) (Television Program).
  • MSNBC News Live, "Scooter Libby Indictment and CIA Leak Case" (MSNBC Oct. 29, 2005) (Television Program).
  • CIA Leak Investigation (NBC Nightly News Oct. 20, 2005) (Television Program).