President Biden Names Forty-Sixth Round of Judicial Nominees and Announces Two New Nominees to Serve as U.S. Attorney

The President is announcing his intent to nominate one individual to a federal circuit court and four individuals to federal district courts—all of whom are extraordinarily qualified, experienced, and devoted to the rule of law and our Constitution.

These choices also continue to fulfill the President’s promise to ensure that the nation’s courts reflect the diversity that is one of our greatest assets as a country—both in terms of personal and professional backgrounds.

This will be President Biden’s forty-sixth round of nominees for federal judicial positions, bringing the number of announced federal judicial nominees to 224.

The President is also announcing his intent to nominate two individuals to serve as U.S. Attorney. These are officials who will be indispensable to upholding the rule of law as top federal law enforcement officials.

These individuals were chosen for their devotion to enforcing the law, their professionalism, their experience and credentials, their dedication to pursuing equal justice for all, and their commitment to the independence of the Department of Justice.

The President has now announced 76 nominees to serve as U.S. Attorneys.

United States Circuit Court Announcement

1. Judge Nancy L. Maldonado: Nominee for the United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit

Judge Nancy L. Maldonado has been a United States District Judge for the Northern District of Illinois since 2022. Judge Maldonado was previously a partner at Miner, Barnhill & Galland, P.C. in Chicago from 2010 to 2022 and an associate at the firm from 2003 to 2009. From 2001 to 2003, Judge Maldonado served as a law clerk for Judge Rubén Castillo on the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois. She received her J.D. from Columbia Law School in 2001 and her A.B., cum laude, from Harvard University in 1997.

United States District Court Announcements

1. Georgia N. Alexakis: Nominee for the United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois

Georgia N. Alexakis has been an Assistant United States Attorney and the Chief of Appeals for the Criminal Division in the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Illinois since 2022. She previously served as an Assistant U.S. Attorney in that office from 2013 to 2021. From 2021 to 2022, Ms. Alexakis worked as a partner at Riley Safer Holmes & Cancila LLP in Chicago. From 2008 to 2012, she was an associate and then a partner at Bartlit Beck Herman Palenchar & Scott LLP, also in Chicago. Ms. Alexakis served as a law clerk for Judge Milton I. Shadur on the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois from 2007 to 2008 and for Judge Marsha S. Berzon on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit from 2006 to 2007. She received her J.D., magna cum laude, from Northwestern Pritzker School of Law in 2006 and her A.B., magna cum laude, from Harvard University in 2000. Between college and law school, from 2000 to 2003, Ms. Alexakis worked as an associate and then as a consultant at the Boston Consulting Group in Chicago.

2. Krissa M. Lanham: Nominee for the United States District Court for the District of Arizona

Krissa M. Lanham has been an Assistant United States Attorney in the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Arizona since 2009. She has served as Appellate Chief in that office since 2020, after previously serving as the Deputy Appellate Chief and Human Trafficking Coordinator. Ms. Lanham served as a law clerk for Judge Barry G. Silverman on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit from 2008 to 2009 and for Judge Robert N. Chatigny on the U.S. District Court for the District of Connecticut from 2007 to 2008. She received her J.D. from Yale Law School in 2007 and her B.A., summa cum laude, from Yale University in 2002.

3. Judge Angela M. Martinez: Nominee for the United States District Court for the District of Arizona

Judge Angela M. Martinez has been a United States Magistrate Judge for the District of Arizona since 2023. Judge Martinez was previously an Assistant United States Attorney in the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Arizona from 2015 to 2023. From 2013 to 2015, she served as a law clerk for Judge Jennifer G. Zipps on the U.S. District Court for the District of Arizona. Prior to that, Judge Martinez was an associate at Farhang & Medcoff, P.L.L.C. from 2012 to 2013 after an earlier period serving as an Assistant U.S. Attorney in the District of Arizona from 2005 to 2009. Before joining the U.S. Attorney’s Office, Judge Martinez was an associate at Lewis and Roca, L.L.P. in Phoenix and Tucson from 2002 to 2004 and she served as a law clerk for Judge John M. Roll on the U.S. District Court for the District of Arizona from 2000 to 2002. Judge Martinez received her J.D. from the University of Arizona James E. Rogers College of Law in 2000 and her B.A. from the University of Arizona in 1995.

4. Sparkle L. Sooknanan: Nominee for the United States District Court for the District of Columbia

Sparkle L. Sooknanan has been the Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General in the United States Department of Justice’s Civil Rights Division since 2023. She previously served as a Deputy Associate Attorney General in the Department of Justice from 2021 to 2023, after first working in the Department as an appellate attorney in the Civil Division from to 2012 to 2013. From 2014 to 2021, Ms. Sooknanan worked in private practice at Jones Day, becoming a partner at the firm in 2020. Prior to that, she served as a law clerk for Justice Sonia Sotomayor on the U.S. Supreme Court from 2013 to 2014, for Judge Guido Calabresi on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit from 2011 to 2012, and for Judge Eric N. Vitaliano on the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York from 2010 to 2011. Ms. Sooknanan received her J.D., summa cum laude, from Brooklyn Law School in 2010, her M.B.A. with distinction from Hofstra University in 2003, and her B.S., summa cum laude, from St. Francis College in 2002.

United States Attorney Announcements

1. Matthew Gannon: Nominee for United States Attorney for the Northern District of Iowa

Matthew Gannon served as First Assistant Attorney General in the Iowa Attorney General’s Office from 2021 to 2023. From 2007 to 2021, he served in the Iowa Attorney General’s Office as an Assistant Attorney General where he led the Office’s Tobacco Enforcement Program. Prior to that, Mr. Gannon worked in private practice as an associate with Arnold & Porter L.L.P. in Washington, D.C. from 1998 to 2007. Mr. Gannon received his J.D. from the University of Iowa College of Law in 1998 and his B.A., magna cum laude, from the University of Notre Dame in 1994.

2. David C. Waterman: Nominee for United States Attorney for the Southern District of Iowa

David C. Waterman has been an attorney at the law firm of Lane & Waterman L.L.P., in Davenport, Iowa, since 2020. Mr. Waterman was previously an Assistant United States Attorney in the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Middle District of Florida from 2016 to 2020. He served as a law clerk for Judge Michael J. Melloy on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit from 2015 to 2016, for Judge Mark W. Bennett on the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Iowa from 2014 to 2015, and for Judge John A. Jarvey on the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Iowa from 2013 to 2014. Mr. Waterman received his J.D. from the University of California, Los Angeles School of Law in 2013; his M.Phil. from the University of Cambridge in 2010; and his B.A., summa cum laude, from The George Washington University in 2009.

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