Nathan J. Hochman

Nathan J. Hochman was nominated by President George W. Bush on Nov. 15, 2007, to be the Assistant Attorney General for the U.S. Department of Justice's Tax Division. He was confirmed by the U.S. Senate on Dec.19, 2007, and started on January 22, 2008.

As Assistant Attorney General, Mr. Hochman is in charge of leading the Tax Division's mission to enforce the nation's tax laws fully, fairly and consistently, through both criminal and civil litigation, in order to promote compliance with the tax laws and maintain confidence in the integrity of the tax system.

Prior to joining the Justice Department, Mr. Hochman was a principal at Hochman, Salkin, Rettig, Toscher & Perez, in Beverly Hills, California, for 11 years, where he specialized in representing individuals and organizations in tax controversies, tax litigation, federal and state white collar criminal investigations, and complex civil matters.

From 1990-1997, Mr. Hochman worked for the Justice Department as an Assistant United States Attorney for the Central District of California. There, he prosecuted over 180 cases in the public corruption and government fraud section, ranging from tax violations, bank fraud, loan fraud, money laundering, and bribery to government program fraud, customs fraud, environmental crimes, arson, narcotics trafficking, bank robbery, alien smuggling, and perjury. Mr. Hochman tried over 20 jury trials and argued more than 20 appeals before the Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit.

At the United States Attorney's Office, Mr. Hochman served as the U.S. Attorney's Office's Environmental Crimes Coordinator for almost two years and then spearheaded the Los Angeles Disaster Fraud Task Force. That Task Force was created after the January 1994 Northridge earthquake and included more than 40 law enforcement agents from 10 different federal and state agencies. Through his leadership and work at the Task Force, Mr. Hochman convicted more than 70 individuals for defrauding federal disaster assistance programs and recovered more than $16 million. In recognition of his achievements, Mr. Hochman received numerous awards, including the Justice Department's Director's Award for Superior Performance, the Inspector General's Award of Excellence, and the Federal Bar Association's Young Federal Lawyer Award.

Mr. Hochman received his Bachelor of Arts degree magna cum laude from Brown University, where he was Phi Beta Kappa. Thereafter, he earned his Juris Doctor degree with distinction at Stanford Law School. Following law school, Mr. Hochman clerked for United States District Judge Stephen V. Wilson of the Central District of California.