Zachary Thomas Fardon (born 1966) served as the United States Attorney for the

Northern District of Illinois The United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois (in case citations, N.D. Ill.) is the federal trial-level court with jurisdiction over the northern counties of Illinois. Appeals from the Northern District of Illinois a ...

. He began serving as the U.S. Attorney in Chicago on October 23, 2013, after President Obama signed his commission. He resigned on March 13, 2017.

Personal

Fardon was born in Kansas City and raised in

Knoxville, Tennessee Knoxville is a city in and the county seat of Knox County in the U.S. state of Tennessee. As of the 2020 United States census, Knoxville's population was 190,740, making it the largest city in the East Tennessee Grand Division and the state' ...

. He graduated in 1988 from

Vanderbilt University Vanderbilt University (informally Vandy or VU) is a private research university in Nashville, Tennessee. Founded in 1873, it was named in honor of shipping and rail magnate Cornelius Vanderbilt, who provided the school its initial $1-million ...

Nashville, Tennessee Nashville is the capital city of the U.S. state of Tennessee and the seat of Davidson County. With a population of 689,447 at the 2020 U.S. census, Nashville is the most populous city in the state, 21st most-populous city in the U.S., and ...

where he also earned his J.D. degree in 1992. He is married and has three children.

Career

From 1992 to 1996, Fardon worked as an associate at

King & Spalding King & Spalding LLP is an American international corporate law firm that is headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia and with offices located in North America, Europe, the Middle East and Asia. It has over 1,200 lawyers in 23 offices globally. It is A ...

in Washington, D.C. In 1997, Fardon became an Assistant U.S. Attorney in

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

and tried several high-profile cases, including the 2005-06

public corruption Corruption is a form of dishonesty or a criminal offense which is undertaken by a person or an organization which is entrusted in a position of authority, in order to acquire illicit benefits or abuse power for one's personal gain. Corruption m ...

trial against former Illinois Governor

George Ryan George Homer Ryan (born February 24, 1934) is an American former politician and member of the Republican Party who served as the 39th governor of Illinois from 1999 to 2003. Elected in 1998, Ryan received national attention for his 1999 mora ...

. From 2003 to 2006, he served as First Assistant U.S. Attorney for the

Middle District of Tennessee The United States District Court for the Middle District of Tennessee (in case citations, M.D. Tenn.) is the federal trial court for most of Middle Tennessee. Based at the Estes Kefauver Federal Building and United States Courthouse in Nashville ...

in Nashville, where he supervised approximately 30 Assistant U.S. Attorneys in all federal criminal and civil matters. As a prosecutor, Fardon received numerous awards, including recognition for superior performance by the

Department of Justice A justice ministry, ministry of justice, or department of justice is a ministry or other government agency in charge of the administration of justice. The ministry or department is often headed by a minister of justice (minister for justice in a ...

, as well as the Chicago Crime Commission Star of Distinction Award, the Frank J. McGarr Award for Excellence in Service to the United States, and the

Cook County Cook County is the most populous county in the U.S. state of Illinois and the second-most-populous county in the United States, after Los Angeles County, California. More than 40% of all residents of Illinois live within Cook County. As of 20 ...

Crime Fighters Excellence in Law Enforcement Award. In 2007, Fardon became a partner at Latham & Watkins LLP, where he chaired the Litigation Department in Chicago. His practice at Latham focused on internal investigations, white collar defense, and complex business litigation. He was recognized as a leading white collar and government investigations lawyer. While in private practice, Fardon also served as adjunct professor at

Northwestern University School of Law Northwestern University Pritzker School of Law is the law school of Northwestern University, a private research university. It is located on the university's Chicago campus. Northwestern Law has been ranked among the top 14, or "T14" law s ...

and was active on multiple civic and professional boards. He began serving as the U.S. Attorney in Chicago on October 23, 2013, after President Obama signed his commission. He resigned on March 13, 2017. After his tenure as the U.S. Attorney in Chicago, Fardon subsequently rejoined

as a partner, and opened the firm's Chicago office.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Fardon, Zachary T. 1966 births Living people Fardon, Zachary T. Fardon, Zachary T. Fardon, Zachary T. Fardon, Zachary T. Assistant United States Attorneys Vanderbilt University Law School alumni

Personal

Career

See also

References