June 2014 Alumni Highlight

Pace Law alumna Gail A. Matthews (’87) receives the 2014 Henry L. Stimson Medal

Gail A. Matthews '87Gail A. Matthews (’87) was selected to receive the 2014 Henry L. Stimson Medal.  Gail was one of two recipients in the Eastern District.  This prestigious award is given each year to “outstanding Assistant United States Attorneys from both the Eastern and Southern Districts of New York, one from the Civil Division and one from the Criminal Division, who exemplify the characteristics of integrity, fair play, and superior commitment to the public good.”  In announcing that Gail had received this Award, United States Attorney, Loretta E. Lynch, stated that,

In her 16 years of service as an Assistant U.S. Attorney, and 11 years as a leading member of the Civil Division’s senior management team, Gail has one of the most distinguished records of achievement in this district. She has supervised thousands of defensive cases, personally litigated nearly 500 cases and led a number of our most important cases and has done so across virtually every subject area, including defending significant class actions, multi-million dollar medical malpractice and personal injury claims, and challenges to federal statutes, regulatory schemes and administrative decisions; prosecuting cases pursuant to the False Claims Act, the Program Fraud Civil Remedies Act, health care regulations, the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act, environmental statutes, and civil forfeiture statutes.

Gail is a 1987 cum laude graduate of Pace Law School.  During her time at Pace, she was managing editor of the Pace Law Review and received a Special Achievement Award for Outstanding Contribution to the Law School Community.  In addition to this, Gail received the American Jurisprudence Award in Entertainment Law while at Pace.  Gail recalls the positive experience she had with her Pace Law professors, including the late Professor Ralph Stein, Professor Michael Mushlin, and especially, Professor Jay Carlisle. 

Currently, Gail is the Deputy Chief of the Civil Division with the United States Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of New York.  In this role, Gail manages the civil division as part of the senior management team, supervises defensive practices, supervises Assistant United States Attorneys, and establishes national policies with various branches of the civil division of the Department of Justice. Over the years, Gail has played a key role in numerous complex cases, including cases with the Social Security Administration, Medicare, constitutional rights, and more.  Her work as Deputy Chief of the Civil Division has been transformational in developing important guidelines and models for trial practices, along with establishing innovative new programs.  Gail established a moot court program and assists Assistant U.S. Attorneys in developing written advocacy skills, even developing an in-house training program called “Developing the Summary Judgment Record,” pertaining to civil cases.  The program is taught nationwide to Assistant U.S. Attorneys, Department of Justice attorneys, and agency attorneys with the National Advocacy Center.

Gail also frequently teaches and lectures through Continuing Legal Education and at conferences.  She is also an instructor with the National Advocacy Center; specifically the federal tort claims act seminar and the motion practice seminar.  She has also taught fundamentals of advanced legal drafting as an adjunct professor of law at Brooklyn Law School.  Prior to joining the U.S. Attorney’s Office, Gail was a litigation associate at Mudge Rose Guthrie Alexander & Ferdon, then with Latham & Watkins.

Gail currently resides in Long Island with her husband, Robert Kambic.  Her son, Matthew, graduated from Duke University in 2013, and her daughter, Jessica, is currently attending University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill.  In her spare time she enjoys running and cheering on the Yankees!