Veteran Leader Takes The Helm Of U.S. Attorney's Office

          GRAND RAPIDS, MICHIGAN — Andrew Byerly Birge assumed the duties of Acting U.S. Attorney by operation of law following U.S. Attorney Patrick Miles, Jr.’s resignation last Friday at noon.

          Birge was serving until then as the First Assistant, the senior-most management position in the office. Birge held the First Assistant position for the last nine and a half years. U.S. Attorney Charles Gross first tapped him for the role in May of 2007, under then-President George W. Bush’s administration. U.S. Attorneys Donald A. Davis and Patrick Miles each subsequently asked him to continue serving in that capacity. A First Assistant functions as the chief advisor to the U.S. Attorney and oversees the office’s civil and criminal litigation as well as its administrative operations. Miles said of Birge: “I know I am leaving the office in good hands.” Miles described Birge as “extremely knowledgeable” and a person of “impeccable integrity.”

          Birge has been with the U.S. Attorney’s Office for over sixteen years. Prior to assuming senior management responsibilities, he oversaw the office’s appellate practice and handled all manner of criminal cases. He began his legal career as a law clerk to the late Chief U.S. District Court Judge Richard A. Enslen, in Kalamazoo, Michigan. Prior to joining the U.S. Attorney’s Office, he was an Associate for several years with the law firm of Jenner & Block in Chicago, Illinois.

          Birge expects to serve as the Acting U.S. Attorney until President Donald Trump nominates and the U.S. Senate confirms a successor U.S. Attorney. “I take great pride in undertaking this opportunity. This office has remarkably dedicated and talented attorneys and staff with an outstanding record of holding wrongdoers accountable and vindicating the interests of the United States. I plan to continue that tradition of excellence in the pursuit of justice.”

          Birge obtained his law degree from the Columbia University School of Law, where he was a Harlan Fiske Stone Scholar. He obtained his Bachelor of Arts degree from Carleton College, where he graduated cum laude and with Distinction as a history major.

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