Richard Hayes

Richard Hayes is the Chief of the Civil Division of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of New York, a district that encompasses over eight million people.  As Chief, Richard manages the work of over 50 Assistant U.S. Attorneys and Special Assistant U.S. Attorneys who represent the interests of the United States in thousands of affirmative and defensive cases and matters each year.

Richard joined the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Eastern District of New York in 1991 and was a Deputy Chief of the Civil Division from 2012 until his appointment to the Chief position in September, 2024.  As Deputy Chief, Richard had overall supervisory responsibility for the Division’s Affirmative Civil Enforcement, Civil Rights, Drug and Listed Chemical, Environmental, and Health Care Fraud practices.

Richard has litigated nearly every type of case within the Civil Division, and handled cases in all phases, through trial and appeal.  Among many other cases, Richard supervised, handled and resolved some of the largest investigations within the Office and the Department of Justice stemming from the Financial Crisis. These included the 2012 $25 billion National Mortgage Settlement, which resolved federal and state claims against the nation’s five largest mortgage servicers.  Richard also originated and led the Office’s Residential Mortgage-Backed Securities (“RMBS”) practice, a component of the Department of Justice’s RMBS Working Group. This entailed building teams that in total comprised as many as sixty AUSAs, other attorneys, and professional staff.  These investigations resulted recovery of more than $11 billion in penalties and provided $6.6 billion in consumer relief to resolve claims under the Financial Institutions Reform Recovery and Enforcement Act.

Richard is a two-time recipient of the Attorney General’s Award for Distinguished Service, a two-time recipient of the Director’s Award for Superior Performance, and a recipient of the Henry L. Stimson Medal for outstanding performance as an Assistant United States Attorney.

Richard graduated from Fordham University School of Law, where he was on the Moot Court Editorial Board and a member of the Fordham Urban Law Journal. He received his B.A. in History and Political Science summa cum laude from Fordham University and was inducted into Phi Beta Kappa. After graduating from law school, Richard was a litigation associate at a New York City law firm where he worked on civil RICO, intellectual property, and securities fraud matters.