Charles Eskridge III testifies before the Senate Judiciary Committee during his confirmation hearing to be U.S. District Judge for the Southern District of Texas, on Wednesday, June 5, 2019.

The U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Texas in Houston is one step closer to getting a new judge after a Senate committee Thursday advanced the nomination of Houston attorney Charles Eskridge III.

Eskridge's nomination will head to the full Senate for debate after the U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee voted his nomination out by 18-5.

“His principled commitment to the rule of law and remarkable legal expertise will serve Texans well, and I urge his swift confirmation in the Senate,” Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, said in a statement.

Eskridge, a Quinn Emanuel Urquhart & Sullivan partner, focuses on complex commercial litigation. Before joining Quinn Emanuel, he spent more than two decades at Susman Godfrey in Houston. He earned his J.D. from Pepperdine University School of Law. He clerked for U.S. Supreme Court Justice Byron White during the 1991-1992 term, and for Judge Charles Clark of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit.

In 2018, Eskridge was part of a team of Quinn Emanuel lawyers who won a $622 million arbitration award against Petrobras on behalf of client Vantage Drilling. The breach of contract case included allegations of bribery and an offshore drill ship that costs more than $500,000 per day to lease.

In recent disclosures that Eskridge provided to the judiciary committee, he reported his income at Quinn Emanuel in 2018 was $2.3 million, an increase from the $2.2 million he earned in 2017.

“Charles is one of the brightest minds of the Texas legal community, and will make an outstanding addition to the bench,” said Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, on June 5 during Eskridge's confirmation hearing before the judiciary committee.

Eskridge didn't immediately return a call seeking comment.

Karl Stern, managing partner of the Houston office of Quinn Emanuel, said he'd look forward to practicing before his colleague if the Senate does approve Eskridge's nomination.

“We are very sorry to lose Charles. He's an amazing lawyer and wonderful person, but he's going to make a fantastic judge and we are very excited for him. This is something he's wanted to do a very long time,” Stern said. “He's a brilliant lawyer. He's going to bring great intellect to the bench and he's also a person of very high integrity. I just think he's going to be a very thoughtful, fair judge. We're just lucky someone like him wants to serve the public.”