Judge Sri Srinivasan, of the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia. Dec. 14, 2017. Photo: Diego M. Radzinschi / NLJ

For Chief Judge Merrick Garland, the past few years have been far from quiet. He's been nominated for a seat on the U.S. Supreme Court, going through the grueling vetting process only to have his nomination blocked and his hopes of a seat on the high court dashed.

After his return to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit, he's handled a full caseload, overseen the creation of committees and protocols on workplace conduct, and still found time to tutor at a D.C. high school.

But come Feb. 12, his term as chief judge on the powerful appellate court will come to an end. According to circuit court rules, which require the most senior judge under the age of 65 to serve as chief judge, Judge Sri Srinivasan will take on the title. He will be the first Asian to serve as the chief judge for a circuit court in the United States.

Garland, 67, who was not available for an interview, is well-known for his brush with a Supreme Court seat. His name has become a rallying cry whenever critics view actions by the GOP-controlled Senate as similar acts of obstruction, or when Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell chimes in on how he'd act on a potential Supreme Court vacancy in another election year.

But at the court, Garland has quietly worked on ways to improve not just the D.C. Circuit, but federal courts as a whole, as chair of the federal judiciary's policymaking group, the Judicial Conference.

Under Garland's watch, the D.C. Circuit has taken steps toward transparency. It's one of a few appeals courts that livestreams oral arguments on its website, meaning those who aren't able to get a seat in the courtroom can still hear the judges preside over cases that often involve the federal government and its policies.

He also created a working group to solicit recommendations from staff on how to address workplace misconduct at the federal courthouse in D.C., and implemented policies on the topic.

And Garland, a Clinton appointee, helped raise cybersecurity as an issue for federal courts, a topic that hadn't had serious consideration in the past. The D.C. Circuit has also added its own IT person to address those issues.

And he's earned praise from members of the court with whom he would have sat alongside: Chief Justice John Roberts gave Garland a shout-out for tutoring students at J.O. Wilson Elementary School in D.C. in the justice's most recent end-of-the-year report.

Garland will still be an active judge and hear cases at the D.C. Circuit, but without the administrative tasks on his desk.

His former clerks widely praised Garland at the time of his Supreme Court nomination, describing him as taking an active interest in their personal lives and showing genuine respect toward lawyers who argued before him in court.

Rachel Miller-Ziegler, an associate with Munger, Tolles & Olson who clerked for Garland at the time of the nomination, said she was initially intimidated at the prospect of working for a federal judge with Garland's reputation. But those concerns quickly wore off.

Miller-Ziegler said that she and Garland have stayed in touch since her clerkship ended, speaking over the phone every couple of months. She said Garland is often how she learns about updates in the personal lives of his other former clerks, an indication of the significant network he's created and remained active in over the years.

She said Garland has a deep faith in the power of the federal judiciary, and that he tries to exemplify that in his work at the court.

"He has a lot of faith in the government and the federal judiciary, and he wants the public to have that faith," Miller-Ziegler said

Srinivasan

While Srinivasan, an Obama appointee, is not a purposeful choice for chief judgeship, having a person of color sitting at the top of such a prominent appellate court is likely to give a boost to diversity in the federal judiciary, which has been criticized for being predominantly male and white (judicial selections are, of course, made at the whim of the president).

It also means that Srinivasan will now sit on the Judicial Conference of the United States, the policymaking body for the federal judiciary. The conference has recently taken up reviews on workplace misconduct, like sexual harassment, within the courts.

On top of making decisions that could help advance the D.C. Circuit on technology and transparency, the chief judgeship will also put Srinivasan in a spot to weigh in on similar decisions for the entire federal judiciary.

And for a judge who has already been considered for a Supreme Court seat, the title could give his resume a boost, if another vacancy emerges on the court under a president who's willing to appoint Srinivasan.

He won't be without institutional support, as Garland will still be on the court. Srinivasan will also inherit at least one of Garland's staff members, special assistant to the chief judge Tracy Scarrow, who has worked for two other chief judges at the D.C. Circuit as well.

A former clerk said Srinivasan, 52, is already viewed as a leader at the D.C. Circuit, where he will have the opportunity to make decisions on the future of the court, at least when it comes to administrative and transparency issues.

The ex-clerk said that Srinivasan isn't the type to try and enact changes at the court for the sake of it, or because he believes it's the modern thing to do, or because others say he should.

"I do think he has a very precise way of thinking through things and figuring out problems that generally leans to something innovative," the former clerk said.

Srinivasan, who grew up playing basketball in Kansas, is also described as an approachable judge who's more than willing to talk about University of Kansas basketball and text his former clerks about their own college teams.

John Yang, the president and executive director of Asian Americans Advancing Justice, said  Srinivasan's new title might help inspire other people of color to pursue careers in the legal community.

And he said that Srinivasan's quick wit and personality "helps him forge alliances and build consensus in ways that others might not be able to."

"The manner in which he relates to people, the manner in which he is down to earth, will serve him well in this role," Yang said.