You don’t have to look hard to find examples of black excellence and Nicholas W. Brown, the first black US attorney in Washington State, is exactly that. He has certainly earned the right to brag and boast about his bewilderingly brilliant list of accomplishments, achievements and accolades; but Nick Brown is a humble man who embodies the phrase surviving to serve and thriving in service.
Born April 2, 1977 in Steilacoom, Washington USA, Nick would later grow up and attend Morehouse College and attain a BA in Political science and Government from 1995 to 1999. Ever achieving, Nicholas went to Harvard Law school the same year he graduated in 99’ and attained a Doctor of Law (J.D) in 2002.
While at Harvard, Nick was on the 2nd season of the megahit reality show Survivor: The Australian Outback. He lasted 30, out of the 42 days and was voted out for his strength in challenges, being the only member his tribe that won a challenge after the merge. His appearance on Survivor was made particularly memorable by his ingenuity and “craftsmanship”.
On Friday, October 8, 2021, Nick Brown was sworn in as U.S. Attorney for the District of Washington after his nomination had been approved by the full U.S. Senate roughly a week earlier on September 30, 2021. Nicholas W. Brown was the best choice for the job and the obvious pick for President Biden. He went from Judge Advocate General in the U.S. Army, to Assistant U.S. Attorney in the Department of Justice, to General Counsel to Governor Jay Inslee of the State of Washington, to a Partner at Pacifica Law Group LLP. In all his experience this is what Nick Brown says were the two most significant moments professionally to him:
“I can think of two. The first was a case I prosecuted three sisters who were children they were assaulted by their cousin. It was a very hard and difficult case and the victims were functionally traumatized. One of them in particular was close to mute, I had to call her to the stand and I was not sure if she would even speak and she took the stand; and we got her to testify in attempts to get her accuser prosecuted. The jury was hung but she got a chance to tell her story and I think that was the most important part.”
“The second was from my first week on the job at Governor Inslee‘s. The person who had the job prior to me left her to do list, one of the to-do’s was a death penalty case. I spent a year touring facilities, meeting inmates on death row and championed this bill. Eventually Governor Insleegot the death penalty moratorium passed In his first year which is extremely surprising.”
Tabor recognizes Nicholas W. Brown as a beacon of inspiration to black and brown peoples of his and our community, humble and brilliant. Despite being nominated by President Biden himself and confirmed by the Senate, his response to this was, “I think about remaining authentic to who I am, grounded, not get caught up in the accolades. Being the US attorney of Western Washington is a title, it’s what I do, it’s not me.”
We had an opportunity to speak with him and are blessed to have had him say “Tabor is a good place for us to connect the black community and black leadership. Bringing the private sector and government together. Tabor has been and is an important voice and leader in the community… Most importantly I’m a husband and a father. At the end of the day, I come home, I see my kids, I play video games with them and help them with their homework. They don’t care that I’m the US attorney and I just want to be present. I’m local, I’m from Washington I’m a reader I’m a family man with a little bit of an adventurous streak.”
From us here at Tabor, we would like to thank Nicholas W. Brown, the first black US attorney in Washington State for demonstrating what black excellence is through his humility in the face of his bewilderingly brilliant list of accomplishments, achievements and accolades.
