In 1980 Jed Rakoff, then a young federal prosecutor, wrote a law review article on the mail fraud statute that was used as a resource by the U.S. Supreme Court.
As a young federal prosecutor, Jed Rakoff began putting his mark on the law with a 1980 law review article on the mail fraud statute. Friends teased him about its length, 51 pages, and the unfulfilled promise of a Part II, even as the U.S. Supreme Court tapped the work as a resource.
On several occasions the High Court cited its analysis and colorful language, particularly one section that described the widely used mail fraud statute as a federal prosecutor's "Stradivarius, our Colt .45, our Louisville Slugger, our Cuisinart-and our true love." Seventeen years later Rakoff, a trim bespectacled man with a gray beard and sharp blue eyes, is poised to widen his mark-as the newest federal judge in the Southern District. Admirers say he brings to the bench the same scholarly bent, tireless energy, and ability to turn a phrase that made him a successful prosecutor, big-firm litigator, and New York Law Journal columnist. Judge Rakoff was born in Philadelphia, the middle of three sons of a high school English teacher and a prominent obstetrician/gynecologist. His elder brother, Jan, was killed in the Philippines in 1983 when he interrupted a thief in his hotel room. His younger brother, Todd, is associate dean of Harvard Law School. Graduating from Philadelphia public schools, Rakoff earned degrees from Oxford University and Harvard Law School after graduating from Swarthmore. Rakoff said he decided on law school for "the usual reason: I eliminated everything else," ruling out song-writing-after working on school musicals-as well as academia and journalism. After serving as a Third Circuit law clerk and an associate at a New York law firm, he joined the U.S. Southern District in 1973. He became chief of business and securities fraud prosecutions and was known for handling complex cases and writing briefs that were models for the office. He was also noted as a late riser and author of humorous pun-filled farewells for departing colleagues. Rakoff left the office in 1980 to work in private practice, handling a mix of civil and criminal litigation, until his appointment to the bench last year. Off the bench, Rakoff said he enjoys camping with his wife, Ann, a homemaker who has a doctoral degree in education, and their three daughters, ages 10, 13, and 16. He is also an avid Yankees fan, tennis player, theatergoer, and reader. -Deborah Pines
Coach Jones (right, second row) with the 1996 champions of the Chevron-sponsored Little League, in which 250 Kazakstani children participated. "It was great," says Jones. "Everyone, the kids, the parents, the whole city really got into it."
Well-maybe it wasn't quite that easy. Still, foreign service was never foreign to Jones. The daughter of a foreign service officer, she was born in Munich and educated in capitals like Paris, Berlin, and Moscow. Graduating from Swarthmore with a major in history, she entered the service as a junior trainee in Afghanistan, where she helped needy Americans "doing drugs along the Hippie Trail to Goa and Nepal" and issued visas to Afghans wishing to visit the United States. She also served in the Middle East and South Asia. As Jones progressed through the ranks, her "relatively successful career" led to the position of career ambassador.
Jones sees her function as twofold. Based in Almaty, the Kazakstani capital, the embassy primarily serves Americans either visiting or working in the country and provides Washington with information that will advance foreign policy initiatives. But also important is its interaction with the Kazakstanis.
Jones faces the challenges of working in a newly emerging democracy with boundless enthusiasm; she delights in working with the Kazakstanis, who are not only extremely receptive to contact with Americans but also have an exceptionally high level of education (the literacy rate is 98 percent). They are, she says, "anxious to change, to become part of the West as quickly as possible." For the Kazakstanis, says Jones, "the United States is considered to be the center of the universe. Our advice is extremely valued. They ask for help in absolutely everything." And she and her colleagues take great pains to ensure that all counsel given is absolutely well-thought out and appropriate.
Furthering the democratic process in a country that for decades had been used to following dictates from Moscow is not easy. According to Jones the Kazakstanis understand the need for democracy, and they try hard to be a democracy; yet so much was provided for them by the Soviet state that the notion of taking the initiative is still rather novel. They lack a tradition of independent thought. One task Jones takes very seriously is the embassy's work with the approximately 18-month-old Kazakstani parliament, striving to help its members understand what it means to represent a constituency, to be responsible not only to the government and the president-who is still seen as very much "in charge"- but also to consider the needs of the electorate. Negotiation with Kazakstanis takes place completely in Russian, which Jones speaks fluently.
"Kazakstan is a fabulous investment," Jones says. "Next to Kuwait it probably has the world's largest oil reserves." And although Kazakstan's nomadic traditions of horse and sheep herding and agriculture still exist, the economy is gradually turning more toward development of the country's natural resources. Extending from the Volga River in Europe to the western Chinese border, it has, in addition to oil, an abundance of gas, gold, silver, uranium, plutonium-"You name it, they've got it," says Jones. At the moment there are 80 American companies based in Almaty, ranging from oil to accounting, banking, law, food processing, mining, and power generation. Working closely with the Kazakstani judiciary, Jones and her team of economic experts are helping compile new trade legislation that will further investment by Western companies.
And then there's the Little League-one of Jones's favorite "ambassadorial activities." During baseball season, she and a large group of American businesspeople lay down tools or pens at 5:30 p.m., slip into sports gear, and go out to coach 250 Kazakstani children in baseball. The brainchild of a Chevron representative, the Little League is a tremendous hit. The children have uniforms bearing the names of American teams, and the city rented space for Chevron to build two baseball diamonds. In praise of the spirit of volunteerism, Jones says: "This is the kind of thing that American businesses here do so well-demonstrate that they're here for the long term; they care about the country; they're not just going to rip off the profits and leave. Imagine the time that went into organizing 250 kids and getting hold of equipment and uniforms. It was great-everyone, the kids, the parents, the whole city really got into it."
A normal ambassadorial stint extends over three years, so Jones' stay in Kazakstan has reached the halfway mark by now. Descriptions of her life in Almaty are filled with superlatives, whether she's speaking about embassy work, her fascination with the people, Almaty's proximity to both alpine and water sports, or the beautiful location of a city she describes as "one of those wonderful secret places people don't know about, at the end of the earth." And so she told her colleagues that she wouldn't mind at all staying longer-all being well, she's hoping to be granted a fourth year.
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Swarthmore College. All rights reserved. 1997
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