Michael J. Heyman was appointed as the U.S. Attorney for the District of Alaska by U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi on Feb. 28. Heyman was sworn in on Mar. 3 by U.S. District Judge Timothy M. Burgess.
He will serve as the U.S. attorney on an interim basis for 120 days or until a Presidential nominee has been confirmed by the Senate.
Heyman brings 24 years of unique legal experience to his new role. He started with the Justice Department as an Assistant U.S. Attorney in the Southern District of California in 2012, where he focused on international narcotics trafficking, human trafficking, firearms, money laundering, immigration, and public corruption. He also lived and worked at the U.S Embassies in Kathmandu, Nepal, and Colombo, Sri Lanka, as the Resident Legal Advisor, assisting in developing the rule of law and combatting transnational crime.
Heyman joined the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Alaska in 2020, where he focused on complex financial crimes and received the U.S. Department of Justice Director’s Award in 2023 for his prosecutorial work.
Prior to working for the Justice Department, Heyman was a partner at the international law firm of K&L Gates LLP, where he practiced commercial litigation and insolvency law. He also served as a law clerk in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court. Mr. Heyman has spoken at dozens of domestic and international professional events and published multiple articles on civil and criminal topics.
Heyman received his Juris Doctor from the George Washington University Law School in 2001 and Bachelor of Arts degrees in Political Science, with honors, and International Studies from the University of California, Irvine in 1998.
“I am thrilled and humbled to serve as United States Attorney for the District of Alaska. It is the honor of a lifetime to act as the chief federal law enforcement officer in the district alongside our exceptional local, state, and federal law enforcement partners,” said U.S. Attorney Heyman. “There is a tremendous amount of work to be done. I look forward to implementing the new administration’s priorities and protecting our communities and the rule of law.”