6 new Article III Judicial nominees, 1 Circuit Judge, 5 District Judges.
Menashi seems to have excellent bona fides to serve as Circuit Judge.
Significantly, the nomination of Richard E. Myers II to the E.D.N.C. officially signals the end of the Thomas Farr saga. Burr evidently finally conceded and allowed Trump to nominate Myers. Unlike Farr, Myers is an excellent pick, with excellent bona fides and is free of controversy.
The seat to which Myers was nominated has been vacant since December 31, 2005, when the previous incumbent took senior status. No way that Myers will be confirmed before this vacancy reaches 14 full years on December 31, 2019. Myers likely will be confirmed in the spring of 2020. This is, by far, the oldest judicial vacancy in the United States.
The other nominees listed appear to have bona fides that range from very good to excellent.
Steven J. Menashi of New York, to serve as Circuit Judge on the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit.
Steven Menashi is a Special Assistant to President Donald J. Trump and Associate Counsel to the President. He previously served as Acting General Counsel at the Department of Education. Before entering public service, Mr. Menashi was an Assistant Professor of Law at George Mason University, where he taught courses in administrative law and civil procedure. Before entering academia full time, Mr. Menashi was a partner at Kirkland & Ellis in New York, where his practice focused on civil and regulatory litigation. While at Kirkland & Ellis, Mr. Menashi also was a Research Fellow at the New York University School of Law and the Opperman Institute for Judicial Administration. Mr. Menashi served as a law clerk to Judge Douglas H. Ginsburg of the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit and to Justice Samuel Alito of the Supreme Court of the United States. Mr. Menashi earned his B.A., magna cum laude , from Dartmouth College, and his J.D., with distinction, from Stanford Law School, where he was inducted into the Order of the Coif and served as Senior Articles Editor of the Stanford Law Review .
Jodi W. Dishman of Oklahoma, to serve as Judge on the United States District Court for the Western District of Oklahoma.
Jodi Dishman is a Shareholder at McAfee & Taft in Oklahoma City, where her practice focuses on complex civil litigation in Federal and State courts and where she serves as President of the Oklahoma City Chapter of the Federal Bar Association. Before joining McAfee & Taft, Ms. Dishman spent five years as an attorney in the San Antonio, Texas office of Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld LLP. Upon graduation from law school, Ms. Dishman served as a law clerk to Judges Edward C. Prado and Carolyn Dineen King of the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit. Ms. Dishman earned her B.B.A., cum laude , from Southern Methodist University and her J.D., summa cum laude , from the University of Oklahoma College of Law, where she served as Editor-in-Chief of the Oklahoma Law Review .
Karen S. Marston of Pennsylvania, to serve as Judge on the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania.
Karen Marston serves as an Assistant United States Attorney in the United States Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania, where she is Chief of the Office’s Narcotics and Organized Crime section. Ms. Marston previously served as an Assistant United States Attorney in the United States Attorney’s Office for the Western District of North Carolina, receiving the Department of Justice Director’s Award in 2002. Ms. Marston has also served as an Adjunct Professor at Temple University Beasley School of Law. Ms. Marston earned her B.A. from Davidson College and her J.D., magna cum laude, from Wake Forest University School of Law, where she served as an Articles Editor on the Wake Forest Law Review .
Richard E. Myers II of North Carolina, to serve as Judge on the United States District Court for the Eastern District of North Carolina.
Richard Myers is the Henry Brandis Distinguished Professor of Law and Director of Trial Advocacy at the University of North Carolina School of Law, where his teaching and scholarship focuses on criminal law. Previously, Professor Myers served as an Assistant United States Attorney in both the Eastern District of North Carolina and Central District of California United States Attorneys’ Offices. While a Federal prosecutor, Professor Myers prosecuted a wide variety of crimes including counterfeiting, narcotics, and firearms offenses. Before going into public service, Professor Myers was in private practice at O’Melveny & Myers LLP. Upon graduation from law school, Professor Myers served as a law clerk to Judge David Sentelle on the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit. He earned his B.A., summa cum laude , and his M.A. from the University of North Carolina at Wilmington and his J.D., magna cum laude , from the University of North Carolina School of Law, where he served as an Articles Editor on the North Carolina Law Review .
Sarah E. Pitlyk of Missouri, to serve as Judge on the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Missouri.
Sarah Pitlyk is a Special Counsel at the Thomas More Society, where her practice focuses on constitutional and civil rights litigation. Before joining the Thomas More Society, Ms. Pitlyk worked at Clark & Sauer LLC, a civil litigation firm in St. Louis, Missouri, and was an associate at Covington & Burling LLP in Washington, D.C. Upon graduation from law school, Ms. Pitlyk served as a law clerk to then-Judge Brett Kavanaugh of the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit. Ms. Pitlyk earned her B.A., summa cum laude , from Boston College, M.A.’s from Georgetown University and the Katholieke Universiteit Leuven (Belgium), where she studied as a Fulbright Scholar, and her J.D. from Yale Law School.
Anuraag “Raag” Singhal of Florida, to serve as Judge on the United States District Court for the Southern District of Florida.
Raag Singhal serves as a Circuit Court Judge for the 17th Judicial Circuit in Broward County, Florida, having been appointed to the bench by then-Governor Rick Scott in 2011. Before his appointment, Judge Singhal was in private practice in Fort Lauderdale where his practice focused on criminal defense in both the trial courts and courts of appeals. Early in his career, Judge Singhal served as a prosecutor in the Office of the State Attorney. Judge Singhal earned his B.A. from Rice University and his J.D. from Wake Forest University School of Law.
