THE new US Ambassador to Ireland presented his credentials to President Michael D Higgins at a ceremony in Dublin last week.
Kevin F O’Malley was sworn in as US Ambassador by Vice President Joe Biden on September 30, ahead of his move to his new position.
Mr O’Malley, an attorney, is considered a talented leader, expert manager, and forthright public speaker, and he has been consistently chosen by the editors of The Best Lawyers in America for his work in medical negligence defence and white collar criminal defences.
As a partner at Greensfelder, Hemker & Gale, PC in St Louis, his trial skills earned him Fellowship in the American College of Trial Lawyers.
Mr O’Malley has been has been an adjunct professor at Washington University School of Law, and taught at St Louis University School of Law from 1979 to 1985.
He is a nationally recognised author of a treatise on jury instructions that is used in federal jury trials in the United States.
Before entering private practice, Mr O’Malley was an Assistant United States Attorney in St Louis, Missouri and a Special Attorney of the Organized Crime Section of the United States Department of Justice in Washington, DC.
During his tenure as a federal prosecutor, he received the Distinguished Service Award from the United States Attorney General. He was a legal instructor for the Central and Eastern European Law Initiative in both Moscow and Warsaw.
He has also served as an officer in the United States Army Reserve.
Mr O’Malley has strong Irish roots as all four of his grandparents were born in Westport, County Mayo. He has been a regular visitor to this country over the years and will be
joined in Ireland by his wife Dena. The couple have two sons, Brendan and Ryan.