Confirmation of Lowenstein's Paul Matey Flips 3rd Circuit to Republicans
Matey's confirmation means the Third Circuit shifts to a 7-6 majority of Republican appointees.
March 12, 2019 at 04:07 PM
3 minute read
The U.S. Senate voted by a 54-45 margin on Tuesday to confirm Paul Matey to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit.
With Matey's confirmation, the Third Circuit shifts to a 7-6 majority of Republican appointees, making it the first court of appeals in the nation to see its composition switch under President Donald Trump, who has been clear on his goal to remake the federal judiciary with conservative judges. Trump previously appointed Stephanos Bibas and David Porter to the 14-member court of appeals.
On Monday, after a vote to close debate on the Matey nomination was split on party lines, Sen. Robert Menendez, D-New Jersey, sharply criticized Republicans for advancing Matey's nomination without the consent of the two home-state senators.
“It's shameful. So long as this president keeps packing our courts with corporate-friendly, Federalist Society judges, the Republican majority is willing to destroy a process Sen. Orin Hatch once called the 'last remaining check on the president's judicial appointment power,'” Menendez said in remarks on the Senate floor.
“President Trump's nominees are now being confirmed at record speed despite objections from home-state senators,” Menendez said. “There never was meaningful consultation between the White House and Sen. Booker, or me, to identify a highly qualified consensus nominee.”
Menendez said Matey would be the third judicial nominee to receive an appointment without a blue slip from either home-state senator.
A former senior counsel and deputy chief counsel to Gov. Chris Christie, Matey also was senior vice president and general counsel at University Hospital in Newark before joining Lowenstein Sandler in Roseland, New Jersey, as a partner in September 2018.
Matey attended the University of Scranton and Seton Hall University School of Law. Before joining Christie in the governor's office, he was an assistant U.S. attorney for the District of New Jersey, focusing on securities, health care and investor fraud, the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, and child exploitation.
Matey replaces Julio Fuentes, who was appointed by President Bill Clinton in 1999 and went on senior status in 2016.
One other vacancy on the Third Circuit still awaits a nominee: the seat vacated when Thomas Vanaskie took senior status last November. President Barack Obama appointed Vanaskie to the court of appeals in 2009.
Democrats have sought to link Matey to the Bridgegate scandal and other controversial aspects of Christie's tenure as governor, and to problems at University Hospital. At the Senate Judiciary Committee's hearing on his nomination in November 2018, Democrats suggested Matey endorsed the Christie administration's alleged practice of seeking political endorsements from local mayors, as long as it was carried out after hours. Matey said he had no knowledge of such activities.
In the Bridgegate scandal, three associates of Christie were prosecuted for creating gridlock in Fort Lee after that city's mayor refused to endorse Christie's gubernatorial re-election campaign.
Also at the Judiciary Committee hearing, Matey was asked whether he was involved with a deal by the Christie administration allowing Trump to settle a $30 million tax bill for his Atlantic City casino properties for $5 million. Matey responded that he had no personal involvement in that matter.
This content has been archived. It is available through our partners, LexisNexis® and Bloomberg Law.
To view this content, please continue to their sites.
Not a Lexis Subscriber?
Subscribe Now
Not a Bloomberg Law Subscriber?
Subscribe Now
NOT FOR REPRINT
© 2024 ALM Global, LLC, All Rights Reserved. Request academic re-use from www.copyright.com. All other uses, submit a request to [email protected]. For more information visit Asset & Logo Licensing.
You Might Like
View AllTrump's Return to the White House: The Legal Industry Reacts
DOJ: TD Bank Agrees to Pay $3B Over Anti-Money Laundering Program Violations
2 minute readWhat Judicial Nominations Could Look Like Under a President Harris or Trump
Binance Sued After $30 Million in Crypto Stolen and Allegedly Laundered on Platform
3 minute readTrending Stories
- 1The Growing PFAS Morass: Why Insurance Should Cover These Products Liability Claims
- 2Dallas Jury Awards $98.65M in Botham Jean Killing by Dallas Officer
- 3In Talc Bankruptcy, Andy Birchfield Skipped His Deposition. Could He Face Sanctions?
- 4Pharmaceutical Patents: Benefits and Challenges
- 5Where Do Web-Tracking Class Actions Belong? 8th Circuit Weighs the Issue
Who Got The Work
Michael G. Bongiorno, Andrew Scott Dulberg and Elizabeth E. Driscoll from Wilmer Cutler Pickering Hale and Dorr have stepped in to represent Symbotic Inc., an A.I.-enabled technology platform that focuses on increasing supply chain efficiency, and other defendants in a pending shareholder derivative lawsuit. The case, filed Oct. 2 in Massachusetts District Court by the Brown Law Firm on behalf of Stephen Austen, accuses certain officers and directors of misleading investors in regard to Symbotic's potential for margin growth by failing to disclose that the company was not equipped to timely deploy its systems or manage expenses through project delays. The case, assigned to U.S. District Judge Nathaniel M. Gorton, is 1:24-cv-12522, Austen v. Cohen et al.
Who Got The Work
Edmund Polubinski and Marie Killmond of Davis Polk & Wardwell have entered appearances for data platform software development company MongoDB and other defendants in a pending shareholder derivative lawsuit. The action, filed Oct. 7 in New York Southern District Court by the Brown Law Firm, accuses the company's directors and/or officers of falsely expressing confidence in the company’s restructuring of its sales incentive plan and downplaying the severity of decreases in its upfront commitments. The case is 1:24-cv-07594, Roy v. Ittycheria et al.
Who Got The Work
Amy O. Bruchs and Kurt F. Ellison of Michael Best & Friedrich have entered appearances for Epic Systems Corp. in a pending employment discrimination lawsuit. The suit was filed Sept. 7 in Wisconsin Western District Court by Levine Eisberner LLC and Siri & Glimstad on behalf of a project manager who claims that he was wrongfully terminated after applying for a religious exemption to the defendant's COVID-19 vaccine mandate. The case, assigned to U.S. Magistrate Judge Anita Marie Boor, is 3:24-cv-00630, Secker, Nathan v. Epic Systems Corporation.
Who Got The Work
David X. Sullivan, Thomas J. Finn and Gregory A. Hall from McCarter & English have entered appearances for Sunrun Installation Services in a pending civil rights lawsuit. The complaint was filed Sept. 4 in Connecticut District Court by attorney Robert M. Berke on behalf of former employee George Edward Steins, who was arrested and charged with employing an unregistered home improvement salesperson. The complaint alleges that had Sunrun informed the Connecticut Department of Consumer Protection that the plaintiff's employment had ended in 2017 and that he no longer held Sunrun's home improvement contractor license, he would not have been hit with charges, which were dismissed in May 2024. The case, assigned to U.S. District Judge Jeffrey A. Meyer, is 3:24-cv-01423, Steins v. Sunrun, Inc. et al.
Who Got The Work
Greenberg Traurig shareholder Joshua L. Raskin has entered an appearance for boohoo.com UK Ltd. in a pending patent infringement lawsuit. The suit, filed Sept. 3 in Texas Eastern District Court by Rozier Hardt McDonough on behalf of Alto Dynamics, asserts five patents related to an online shopping platform. The case, assigned to U.S. District Judge Rodney Gilstrap, is 2:24-cv-00719, Alto Dynamics, LLC v. boohoo.com UK Limited.
Featured Firms
Law Offices of Gary Martin Hays & Associates, P.C.
(470) 294-1674
Law Offices of Mark E. Salomone
(857) 444-6468
Smith & Hassler
(713) 739-1250