Former DOJ Ethics Official Bradley Weinsheimer Wins 2026 Rosenberg Award
April 02, 2026
The D.C. Bar is honoring Bradley Weinsheimer, former associate deputy attorney general at the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ), with its 2026 Beatrice Rosenberg Award for Excellence in Government Service. Weinsheimer will receive the award at the Bar’s Celebration of Leadership on June 18.
“It is a profound honor to receive the Beatrice Rosenberg Award,” Weinsheimer said. “I’m deeply grateful to the Bar and to those who nominated me. Throughout my career, I have been motivated by a simple commitment to ensure that justice is done.”
Weinsheimer served nearly 35 years as a government lawyer, the last seven as associate deputy attorney general at DOJ. In that role he provided ethics counsel to department officials in areas such as conflicts of interest and recusal, developed and managed standards of conduct applicable to DOJ employees, and reviewed disciplinary recommendations by the Office of Professional Responsibility. Weinsheimer helped guide department leaders through complex legal and institutional challenges during a period of extraordinary public scrutiny and historic change.
Weinsheimer spent a large part of his career as a trial lawyer and supervisor with the U.S. Attorney’s Office (USAO), from 1991 to 2011. While at USAO, he served twice as chief of the Superior Court Division, leading approximately 140 prosecutors and more than 100 staff in the investigation and prosecution of hundreds of criminal cases annually. He worked closely with community stakeholders, state and local leaders, and law enforcement partners on public safety initiatives, with a particular focus on reducing violent crime and homicides. During his second tenure as division chief from 2008 to 2011, the District of Columbia experienced a 21 percent reduction in violent crime and a 42 percent reduction in homicides.
Lisa Monaco, former U.S. deputy attorney general, described the DOJ Office of the Deputy Attorney General as the department’s “operational nerve center, overseeing sensitive criminal and civil matters, coordinating across components, resolving disputes, and ensuring that the department’s authority is exercised lawfully and consistent with its core values.”
Monaco praised Weinsheimer not just for his legal expertise, but also for his “independence and moral clarity.” “As [DOJ’s] most senior career leader, [Weinsheimer] provided advice unclouded by political considerations,” Monaco said. “He was respected across administrations precisely because he was steadfast in doing the right thing even when that meant delivering difficult counsel. His leadership strengthened the department’s credibility, protected its institutional integrity, and reinforced public trust in its mission.”
Merrick Garland, former U.S. attorney general and current partner at Arnold & Porter Kaye Scholer LLP, argued that the Bar’s Rosenberg Award is “the most important award a career public servant can win.” He then praised Weinsheimer as an “exemplary career public servant.”
“Especially in moments of uncertainty or transition, Brad provided continuity, institutional memory, and principled counsel,” Merrick said. “His calm leadership and rigorous analysis reinforced confidence in [DOJ’s] decision making and helped ensure that [DOJ] remained faithful to its mission and values.”
“The rule of law and the desire to bring justice to the people we serve was my guide, as it was for countless colleagues who share that dedication to excellence, integrity, and doing the right thing every day,” Weinsheimer said. “To serve the community — the whole community — requires acting with independence, principled discretion, and treating like cases alike. Only then does DOJ follow its motto of prosecuting on behalf of justice, not the politically powerful.”
Weinsheimer earned his bachelor of arts degree in political science and government in 1985 from Marquette University and his juris doctor from the University of Virginia in 1989. He spent two years at Sidley Austin LLP before joining the federal government in 1991 as an assistant U.S. attorney in Washington, D.C. After leaving that position in 2011, Weinsheimer served as deputy counsel in DOJ’s Office of Professional Responsibility until 2016. Following a brief stint with DOJ’s National Security Division, he became associate deputy attorney general in 2018.
In 2025 he left the federal government, becoming director of compliance in Capital One’s Office of Corporate Integrity, where he manages a team focused on compliance relating to conflicts of interest and gift and entertainment issues. Weinsheimer also continues teaching at the George Washington University Law School as an adjunct professor of law.
In addition to receiving the Rosenberg Award, Weinsheimer received the Attorney General’s David Margolis Award for Exceptional Service in 2025; the Attorney General Claudia Flynn Award for Professional Responsibility in 2015; the D.C. Metropolitan Police Department Medal of Merit in 2011; the DOJ Executive Office for United States Attorneys Director’s Award for superior management and administration in 2002 and 2006; the USAO Special Achievement & Team Award for several years; and the Assistant U.S. Attorneys Association’s John Evans and Victor Caputy Award for Outstanding Advocacy in 1998 in recognition of his courtroom excellence.
The D.C. Bar established the Rosenberg Award in honor of Beatrice “Bea” Rosenberg, who dedicated 35 years of her career to government service and performed with distinction at the U.S. Department of Justice and U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. She also served on the Board on Professional Responsibility.
“Beatrice Rosenberg dedicated her career to the law and the pursuit of justice. As have the distinguished recipients of this award over more than 35 years, I’m proud to stand today among them,” Weinsheimer said.
