U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit. Photo: ALM

Chief Judge Robert A. Katzmann on Friday announced the selection of Michael D. Jordan to serve as circuit executive for the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit.

Jordan, whose first day was Aug. 12, has served as the court’s chief operating officer and general counsel since 2013. He is replacing Karen Greve Milton, who stepped down last month to take a job as deputy inspector general and chief of staff in the New York State Office of the Metropolitan Transportation Authority Inspector General.

Milton was the longest-serving circuit executive in the Second Circuit’s history and the first woman to hold the post.

A 2001 graduate of New York University School of Law, Jordan began his legal career as clerk to Circuit Judge Dennis Jacobs. After working as a litigation associate at Davis Polk & Wardwell and as an enforcement attorney with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, Jordan returned to the Second Circuit in 2006 as counsel to Jacobs, who at the time was serving as chief judge.

In a statement, Katzmann praised the “deep experience and high standards” that Jordan would bring to his new position.

“We are fortunate to have Michael Jordan with us in his new role as circuit executive,” Katzmann said. “We know he will continue to serve the federal judiciary and the public with distinction.”

Under federal statute, the circuit executive oversees a 35-employee office in its support of the circuit chief judge and the judicial council, coordinating a wide range of administrative matters for all federal courts within the circuit, including space and facilities, media relations, security and the selection and reappointment of bankruptcy judges and federal public defenders.

According to an earlier vacancy posting on the Second Circuit, the position pays up to $210,900 per year, based on qualification and experience.

Milton announced her retirement in a letter to colleagues, dated June 20. Her last day was July 19.

The search process was headed by Katzmann, who recommended candidates for a vote by the Second Circuit Judicial Council, a group that includes Katzmann, the chief judges of the six district courts within the Second Circuit and the six most senior circuit court judges.

 

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