Nicholas (“Nick”) Brown is the Western District of Washington’s first African American United States Attorney. Brown was born in San Francisco to a career military officer and spent his childhood in Augsburg, Germany. He graduated in 1995 from Steilacoom High School, where he was voted “best all-around personality” of his class. Brown then graduated with honors from Morehouse College in 1999 and Harvard Law School in 2002.
Brown appeared on the popular CBS television show Survivor: The Australian Outback in 2000, while still in law school. Brown worked as a fashion model on the side while attending college and law school.
From 2003 to 2007, Brown served in the Army Judge Advocate General Corps at Joint Base Lewis McChord (JBLM), Fort Bliss, Texas, and Baghdad, Iraq. In 2005, he was promoted to Captain, completed the Army Airborne Course, and was awarded the Bronze Star Medal. From 2007 to 2013, Brown worked as an Assistant United States Attorney in the Western District of Washington.
From 2013 to 2017, he was General Counsel to Washington Governor Jay Inslee, where he advised on a wide range of legal issues, including judicial appointments, criminal justice policy, Indian law, and clemency petitions.
He was instrumental in Inslee’s 2014 decision to suspend the use of the death penalty in Washington. Brown then became a partner at Pacifica Law Group in Seattle, where he represented public and private clients in complex litigation and political matters. Brown also served as a Commissioner on the City of Seattle Ethics and Elections Commission, where she was elected Chair in 2020.
Brown became the first Black person to serve as the United States Attorney for the Western District of Washington after President Joseph Biden nominated him in 2021.
Brown has served on the boards of several public and non-profit organizations, including the Campaign for Equal Justice, the Washington State Bar Association Leadership Institute, Seattle Works, and Treehouse. He belongs to the Sigma Pi Phi Fraternity.