As the Director of the Defense Office of Hearings & Appeals, Mr. Russell-Hunter oversees all of DOHA’s Administrative Judges, Department Counsel, Personnel Security Specialists (Adjudicators), and administrative staff as either second or third level supervisor.  Prior to his appointment to the Senior Executive Service as Director of DOHA, Mr. Russell-Hunter served as Deputy Director of DOHA, after serving for more than ten years as DOHA’s Chief Department Counsel.  Mr. Russell-Hunter was appointed Chief Department Counsel in 1996 and was awarded the Secretary of Defense Medal for Exceptional Civilian Service in of 2001 for his work in that role.  Prior to becoming the Deputy Chief Department Counsel in 1995, Mr. Russell-Hunter served as a Department Counsel representing the Government in industrial security clearance due process cases.  He is a frequent invited speaker on the topic of security clearance reform and due process at national industrial contractor conferences convened by such groups as AIA/NDIA, the National Security Institute’s “IMPACT” series, ASIS, CSSWG, NCMS and ISACs.  He regularly teaches the personnel security clearance process in courses at the DCSA’s CDSE and DC Bar.  He has served on various working groups to reform the clearance process within the Department of Defense and across Government.  He has served on the DoD/DNI Joint Security and Suitability Process Reform Team since its inception in June of 2007.  He and the rest of the Joint Reform Team received the Director of National Intelligence’s Meritorious Unit Citation in 2009.  He was again awarded the Secretary of Defense Medal for Exceptional Civilian Service in 2017.

Mr. Russell-Hunter is an Adjunct Professor of Law at the Georgetown University Law Center in Washington, D.C. where he teaches trial advocacy and civil litigation practice and was named the Charles Fahy Distinguished Adjunct Professor of Law for 2016-2017.  Mr. Russell-Hunter is also on the faculty of the non-profit National Institute for Trial Advocacy where he teaches trial advocacy and deposition skills to practicing attorneys and is the Director of the NITA DC Deposition Skills Program, Deposing the Expert Program, and the NITA Investigative Questioning Techniques Program.  Mr. Russell-Hunter is also a Past President of, and a charter member of, the Federal American Inn of Court in Washington, D.C., where, from 1990 to 2010, he taught litigation and trial advocacy skills to practicing attorneys and law students.  In the American Inns of Court, instruction by judges and practicing attorneys emphasizes ethics and civility in trial advocacy.  Prior to his nearly thirty years of federal service with the Department of Defense, Mr. Russell-Hunter practiced with the law firm of Pepper, Hamilton & Scheetz in Washington, D.C. 

Mr. Russell-Hunter graduated magna cum laude from Syracuse University in Syracuse, New York, with a Bachelor of Arts degree with majors in both English and Political Science.  While at Syracuse, Mr. Russell-Hunter was Phi Beta Kappa and received the Senior Leadership Award and the James F. Reynolds Award in Political Science.   Mr. Russell-Hunter received his Juris Doctor, from Northwestern University School of Law in Chicago where he served on the school’s Moot Court Board and practiced in the Legal Clinic. 

 Mr. Russell-Hunter is a member of both the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania and District of Columbia Bars.  His direct office number is (703) 696-4751.