President Biden Names Thirty-Sixth Round of Judicial Nominees

The President is announcing his intent to nominate two individuals to federal circuit courts and two 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.

If confirmed, this slate would include the first Hispanic person to serve on the U.S. District Court for the District of Minnesota.

This will be President Biden’s thirty-sixth round of nominees for federal judicial positions, bringing the number of announced federal judicial nominees to 180.

United States Circuit Court Announcements

1. Judge Joshua P. Kolar: Nominee for the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit

Joshua Kolar has been a United States Magistrate Judge on the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Indiana since 2019. Judge Kolar also serves as a Lieutenant Commander in the U.S. Navy Reserve. He has served in the U.S. Navy Reserve since 2009 and was on active duty in Afghanistan from 2014 to 2015. Previously, Judge Kolar served as an Assistant U.S. Attorney in the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Indiana from 2007 to 2018. He was the National Security Lead in that office from 2015 to 2018. Judge Kolar was an associate at Mayer Brown L.L.P. from 2006 to 2007 and 2003 to 2005. He served as a law clerk for Judge Wayne R. Andersen on the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois from 2005 to 2006. Judge Kolar received his J.D. in 2003 and his B.A. in 1999, both from Northwestern University.

2. Richard E. N. Federico: Nominee for the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit

Rich Federico joined the Federal Public Defender for the District of Kansas in Topeka in 2017. He has served as the Senior Litigator since 2020 and previously served as an Assistant Federal Public Defender from 2018 to 2020 and as a Research and Writing Specialist from 2017 to 2018. Mr. Federico also serves as a Captain in the United States Navy Reserve, Judge Advocate General’s Corps. He has been a Military Judge for the Navy Reserve Trial Judiciary since 2019, and he served as an Appellate Defense Counsel from 2015 to 2019. Mr. Federico was an Assistant Federal Public Defender for the District of Oregon in Portland from 2015 to 2017. Before that, Mr. Federico served on active duty in the U.S. Navy JAG Corps as a prosecutor from 2002 to 2008 and as a defense counsel from 2008 to 2015. In his last duty station on active duty, he served as Officer in Charge of two defense offices. He received his LL.M., highest distinction, from Georgetown University Law Center in 2012, his J.D. from the University of Kansas School of Law in 2002, and his B.A.J. from Indiana University in 1999.

United States District Court Announcements

1. Judge Jeffrey Bryan: Nominee for the U.S. District Court for the District of Minnesota

Jeffrey Bryan has served as a judge on the Minnesota Court of Appeals since 2019. From 2013 to 2019, he was a judge in the Second Judicial District in Saint Paul. Judge Bryan previously served as an Assistant United States Attorney in the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Minnesota from 2007 to 2013 and was an associate at Robins, Kaplan, Miller, & Ciresi L.L.P. from 2003 to 2007. Judge Bryan served as a law clerk for Judge Paul A. Magnuson on the U.S. District Court for the District of Minnesota from 2002 to 2003. Judge Bryan received his J.D. from Yale Law School in 2002 and his B.A., summa cum laude, from the University of Texas at Austin in 1998.

2. Judge Eumi K. Lee: Nominee for the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California

Eumi Lee has served as a judge on the Superior Court of California in Alameda County since 2018. Previously, Judge Lee was a Clinical Professor of Law at the University of California College of the Law, San Francisco (formerly the University of California, Hastings College of the Law) from 2005 to 2018. From 2002 to 2005, she was an associate at Keker & Van Nest L.L.P. From 2000 to 2001, she was an associate at Thelen, Reid & Priest L.L.P. Judge Lee served as a law clerk for Judge Warren J. Ferguson on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit from 2001 to 2002 and as a law clerk for Judge Jerome Turner on the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Tennessee from 1999 to 2000. Judge Lee received her J.D. from Georgetown University Law Center, cum laude, in 1999 and her B.A. from Pomona College in 1994.

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