Clifton Barrett

Clifton (“Cliff”) Thomas Barrett brings more than four decades of experience as a federal prosecutor, state prosecutor, legal educator, and trial advocate. His career reflects a sustained commitment to public service, leadership, and advancing legal education.

Mr. Barrett earned a B.A. in History, cum laude, from Wake Forest University in 1982 and a J.D. from Wake Forest University School of Law in 1985. He is a member of the North Carolina State Bar and District of Columbia Bar and is admitted before the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of North Carolina and the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit. In 2024, he received the North Carolina State Bar’s John B. McMillan Distinguished Service Award for contributions to legal education, professionalism, and public confidence in the justice system; in 2013, he received the U.S. Department of Justice “Director’s Award” for distinguished service as a DOJ manager.

Mr. Barrett served in numerous leadership roles in the United States Attorney’s Office for the Middle District of North Carolina, including twenty-five years as Chief of the Criminal Division and as United States Attorney. He managed complex federal prosecutions, tried about fifty federal jury trials, and argued ten cases before the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit. His work covered organized crime, narcotics, violent crime, public corruption, white-collar crime, tax fraud, money laundering, child exploitation, and national security matters.

Prior to working at United States Department of Justice, Mr. Barrett served as  an Assistant District Attorney in Forsyth County, North Carolina, where he tried more than 125 state jury cases, including eighteen homicides and numerous high-profile prosecutions that influenced emerging areas of criminal law, including the early use of DNA evidence in criminal trials.

Mr. Barrett formerly taught trial advocacy as an Adjunct Professor of Trial Practice at Wake Forest University School of Law and mentored many students through the school’s Clinic Program. He also instructed newly appointed Assistant United States Attorneys in the Department of Justice’s Basic Trial Advocacy Seminar. His career reflects a lasting commitment to the rule of law, ethical leadership, professional excellence, and educating future lawyers.