Elana S. Suttenberg, Esq., serves as Special Counsel for Policy and Legislative Affairs at the United States Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia (USAO-DC). In that role, she develops and leads legislative efforts, represents the USAO-DC before the Council of the District of Columbia, and coordinates with external stakeholders, including governmental and community partners. Ms. Suttenberg has also been the United States Attorney’s designee to the Criminal Code Reform Commission Advisory Group, the District of Columbia Clemency Board, the Council for Court Excellence’s Criminal Justice Committee, and the District Jails and Justice Task Force, and she represents her Office on the Redbook jury instruction committee. She has also served as her Office’s advisor on ethics and professional responsibility.

Previously, Ms. Suttenberg served as a Senior Assistant U.S. Attorney at the USAO-DC, investigating and prosecuting complex and sensitive cases involving domestic violence and sexual offenses committed against children and adults. Since joining the office in 2012, Ms. Suttenberg has prosecuted cases ranging from misdemeanors to violent felonies and briefed and argued cases on appeal. She has received numerous Special Act Awards during her time at the U.S. Attorney’s Office and received the U.S. Attorney’s Award for Community Outreach in 2022.

Ms. Suttenberg earned her Bachelor of Arts degree, magna cum laude, from the University of Pennsylvania and her Juris Doctor from Georgetown University Law Center, where she served as Managing Editor on The Georgetown Law Journal. After law school, Ms. Suttenberg clerked for the Honorable Chief Judge Royce C. Lamberth on the United States District Court for the District of Columbia.