Covington, McGuireWoods Partners Among New Slate of Judicial Nominees
The White House offered up 20 new names this week as it looks to fill judicial vacancies around the country.
April 10, 2018 at 03:39 PM
4 minute read
The original version of this story was published on National Law Journal
While all eyes on the Hill are trained on Facebook Inc. founder Mark Zuckerberg's testimony before Congress, the trickle of judicial nominees continues from the executive branch, with 20 new names unveiled by the White House this week.
Not surprisingly, the latest crop of nominees includes some current partners at major law firms, as well as lawyers who got their start in Big Law in cities from Washington, D.C., to Anchorage, Alaska. Those nominees include:
Georgia Supreme Court Justice Britt Grant, nominee for the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit, began her legal career in Washington. After graduating from Stanford Law School and clerking for Judge Brett Kavanaugh of the D.C. Court of Appeals , Grant joined Kirkland & Ellis in D.C. to focus on complex commercial litigation. Before joining the judiciary in Georgia, Grant also served as Georgia's solicitor general and counsel for legal policy to Georgia's attorney general.
Ken Bell, district judge nominee for the Western District of North Carolina, is a partner in McGuireWoods' Charlotte, North Carolina, office focused on white-collar defense and business-related investigations. Bell's resume also includes stints in Hunton & Williams and Mayer Brown.
Holly Brady, district judge nominee for the Northern District of Indiana, is a partner at the northwestern Hoosier firm of Haller & Colvin where she handles civil, employment and labor litigation. Before joining the Fort. Wayne, Indiana-based firm, Brady worked as partner at Theisen, Bowers, & Brady and as an associate at Barnes & Thornburg.
Steve Clark, district judge nominee for the Eastern District of Missouri, is aiming to move from the Runnymede Law Group that he founded to the federal bench. Before founding the St. Louis-based legal group, Clark was an equity partner at Husch Blackwell, an equity shareholder at Polsinelli, and an officer at Greensfelder, Hemker & Gale.
J.P. Hanlon, district judge nominee for the Southern District of Indiana, is a partner in Faegre Baker Daniels' Indianapolis office. Hanlon co-chairs the white-collar defense and investigations practice for the firm. Earlier in his career, Hanlon handled labor and employment matters as an associate at Seyfarth Shaw.
Jon Katchen, district judge nominee for the District of Alaska, works as of counsel at Holland & Hart in Anchorage. Before joining Holland & Hart in 2017, Katchen practiced law in The Last Frontier from Crowell & Moring's Anchorage office. Earlier in his career, Katchen served as a law clerk for the president's sister, Judge Maryanne Trump Barry, on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit.
David Morales, district judge nominee for the Southern District of Texas, is a partner at Kelly Hart & Hallman focusing on complex litigation, administrative law and education law. Kelly Hart has offices across Texas and Louisiana.
Emin Toro, judicial nominee for the U.S. Tax Court, is a partner in Covington & Burling's D.C. office. Toro tackles tax controversies for multinational companies at Covington, and recently served as part of Covington's team representing Bacardi in its acquisition of Patrón Tequila. Earlier in his career, Toro served as a law clerk to U.S. Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas.
This wave of nominees comes as the Senate voted Tuesday to install a Frost Brown Todd partner, Claria Horn Boom, to the federal bench in Kentucky. Additional votes are expected on two more judicial nominees by the week's end.
Boom is a member in Frost Brown's Lexington, Kentucky, office, where she handles banking, finance and commercial transactions. She will serve as a U.S. district judge for the Eastern and Western districts of Kentucky. She previously worked for King & Spalding in Atlanta.
Later this week, the Senate Judiciary Committee plans to hold hearings on six more judicial nominees and the committee expects to advance four other judicial nominees to the Senate for a full vote.
As of Tuesday afternoon, Congress has confirmed 30 of President Donald Trump's judicial nominees—a tally that began with U.S. Supreme Court Justice Neil Gorsuch's confirmation one year ago this week. The Senate Judiciary Committee has processed 31 more judicial nominees, including four federal appeals court picks and 27 district court picks, who now await confirmation votes from the full Senate.
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