Michael Ambrosino

Michael T. Ambrosino is the first person to serve as Special Counsel for DNA and Forensics at the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia. From 2010 to 2021, he was responsible for overseeing the use of forensic evidence by D.C. prosecutors. In addition to implementing Office-wide protocols, Mr. Ambrosino has briefed and argued a number of forensic hearings of first impression. He has also overseen a number of Office-wide forensic reviews, including the 2013 hair and fiber review, the 2015 review that uncovered errors in DNA interpretation at the D.C. Department of Forensic Sciences (DFS), and the audit team evaluated firearms and toolmark errors and managerial misconduct at DFS that resulted in the agency’s loss of forensic accreditation. 

Prior to serving as Special Counsel, Mr. Ambrosino spent three years arguing appeals in the D.C. Circuit and the D.C. Court of Appeals. Before that, Mr. Ambrosino spent a decade trying homicide cases, during which he handled numerous matters of first impression, including the admissibility of DNA and the first “cold-hit” DNA case. During this time, he also handled a number of cases involving complex mental health issues. Mr. Ambrosino began his career in 1985 at the law firm of Donohue and Donohue in New York, practicing international trade law before taking a job as a trial attorney in 1987 with the International Trade Field Office of the U.S. Department of Justice in New York. In 1989, Mr. Ambrosino joined the Civil Division of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for D.C., where he handled a variety of affirmative and defensive civil cases for six years. 

Mr. Ambrosino’s passion for forensics has led him to lecture on a variety of forensic topics at the George Washington University Forensic Science Studies Graduate Program, the University of Pennsylvania Law School, and Georgetown Law. He has also been an invited panelist at numerous forensic conferences. 

Mr. Ambrosino graduated from Hofstra Law School in 1985 and from the University of Hartford in 1982.