Diversity Progress on the Bench: US President Biden’s Judicial Nominees – JD Supra

U.S. President Joe Bidens diverse slate of judicial nominees reflects progress in the legal industry in embracing women, minorities, and people with nontraditional backgrounds in leadership roles.

Read on for a quick primer on who the nominees are, and what you need to know.

Bidens first 11 nominees for federal district and appeals courts signify a stark departure from former U.S. President Donald Trumps 221 judicial appointees, who were mostly white, relatively young, and male.1

In contrast, Biden has nominated nine women, including three Black women, and two men to fill court vacancies. If confirmed, some of his nominees would mark historical firsts: the first Muslim to serve as a federal district judge, the first Asian-American woman to join the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia Circuit, and the first woman of color to sit on the federal bench in Maryland, according to the White House. The nominees also bring a variety of legal experience, including public defense.2

Nominated for: U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit

Current role: U.S. District Court judge for the District of Columbia

Notable professional experience: Former criminal and civil appellate attorney; former assistant federal public defender; former assistant counsel at the Sentencing Commission

Nominated for: U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit

Current role: Partner at Perkins Coie LLP in Chicago

Expertise: Trial and appellate counsel in complex patent and trade secret disputes

Nominated for: Seventh U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals

Current role: Partner at Zuckerman Spaeder LLP in Washington, D.C.

Expertise: Complex civil litigation, white-collar criminal defense and investigations

Notable professional experience: Former staff attorney at the Federal Defender Program in the Northern District of Illinois

Nominated for: U.S. District Court for the District of Maryland

Current role: U.S. magistrate judge for the U.S. District Court for the District of Maryland

Notable professional experience: Federal public defender

Nominated for:U.S. District Court for the District of Maryland

Current role: Judge on the U.S. Court of Federal Claims

Notable professional experience: Chief counsel for privacy and information policy and privacy counsel for Sen. Patrick Leahy, D-Vermont

Nominated for: U.S. District Court for the District of New Jersey

Current role: County counsel for the acting county administrator for Bergen County, New Jersey

Notable professional experience: Former U.S. attorney prosecuting homicides, other violent crimes, organized crime, and narcotics trafficking and former deputy chief of the Appellate

Nominated for: U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia

Current role: Associate judge on the Superior Court for the District of Columbia

Notable professional experience: Former U.S. attorney prosecuting homicides, other violent crimes, organized crime, and narcotics trafficking and former deputy chief of the Appellate

Nominated for: U.S. District Court for the District of New Jersey

Current role: U.S. magistrate judge for the U.S. District Court for the District of New Jersey

Notable professional experience: Assistant U.S. attorney and an Army judge advocate general for the U.S. District Court for the District of New Jersey

Nominated for: U.S. District Court for the District of Colorado

Current role: Partner at Wilmer Cutler Pickering Hale and Dorr LLP in Denver

Expertise: Complex litigation and government investigations

Nominated for: U.S. District Court for the District of New Mexico

Current role: Partner at McGraw & Strickland LLC in Las Cruces, New Mexico

Expertise:Civil rights and criminal defense cases in state and federal courts in New Mexico

Notable professional experience:President of the New Mexico Criminal Defense Lawyers Association from 2017-2019

Nominated for: Superior Court of the District of Columbia

Current role: Administrative judge for the D.C. Rental Housing Commission

Notable professional experience: Indigent criminal defense

The 11 nominations are just the first of a series to fill 68 court openings and another 26 expected to become vacant later this year, according to The New York Times.3

If this first round of nominees sets the tone for the others, Bidens appointments could help energize efforts toward more diversity, equity, and inclusion in the legal profession.

Learn more about the importance of diversity in the legal profession.

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Diversity Progress on the Bench: US President Biden's Judicial Nominees - JD Supra