Edward A. O’Connell, Esq., serves as the Chief of Staff and Deputy General Counsel to the Inspector General for the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission and Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board, where he received two Special Act Awards for outstanding service.

Mr. O’Connell began his legal career as an Assistant State’s Attorney for Baltimore City, prosecuting juvenile delinquency, narcotics, weapons offenses, and violent crimes. He later served as an Assistant United States Attorney for the District of Columbia, receiving numerous Special Achievement Awards. Mr. O’Connell argued several appeals before the District of Columbia Court of Appeals and prosecuted narcotics and weapons offenses in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia. He served as a Community Prosecutor, addressing crime in specific neighborhoods in the District, and was active in Project LEAD, teaching elementary school students about citizenship and the Justice System. Mr. O’Connell prosecuted misdemeanors, narcotics, weapons offenses, and violent crimes in the Superior Court of the District of Columbia (Superior Court). He served ten years as the U.S. Attorney’s Office’s Vehicular Homicide prosecutor.

Mr. O’Connell received his Bachelor of Arts degree from the Catholic University of America and his Juris Doctor from Quinnipiac School of Law. Following law school, he served as a law clerk to the Honorable Rufus King III on the Superior Court. Mr. O’Connell is active in the John Carroll Society, the William B. Bryant American Inn of Court, the DC Assistant United States Attorneys Association, and the Catholic Charities Legal Network.