Today President Donald J. Trump announced his intent to nominate a fourteenth wave of judicial nominees, thirteenth wave of United States Attorney nominees, and eighth wave of United States Marshal nominees as follows:
If confirmed, Ryan D. Nelson of Idaho will serve as a Circuit Judge on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit. Since 2009, Ryan Nelson has served as general counsel of Idaho Falls-based Melaleuca, Inc. Before joining Melaleuca, Mr. Nelson served in the Federal government as Special Counsel for Supreme Court nominations to the Ranking Member of the Senate Judiciary Committee; as Deputy General Counsel to the White House Office of Management and Budget; and as Deputy Assistant Attorney General in the Environment and Natural Resources Division of the United States Department of Justice. At DOJ, Mr. Nelson argued 13 cases in the U.S. Courts of Appeals and was division counsel for 50 briefs filed in the Supreme Court. Before joining DOJ, Mr. Nelson practiced in the Washington, DC, office of Sidley Austin LLP, where he was a member of the firm’s appellate, litigation, products liability, and religious liberties practice groups. Upon graduation from law school, Mr. Nelson served as a law clerk to Judge Karen LeCraft Henderson of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit and to Judges Charles Brower and Richard Mosk of the Iran-U.S. Claims Tribunal at The Hague. Mr. Nelson earned his B.A. from Brigham Young University and his J.D., with honors, from BYU Law School, where he was inducted into the Order of the Coif and served as a lead articles editor of the BYU Law Review.
If confirmed, Gary R. Brown of New York will serve as a District Judge on the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York. Gary Brown serves as a U.S. Magistrate Judge for the Eastern District of New York, where he has served since his selection in 2011. Judge Brown also serves as an adjunct professor at St. John’s School of Law. In 2014, Judge Brown was selected by the Board of Judges to serve on the Committee of Magistrate Judges appointed to manage more than 1,400 Hurricane Sandy cases filed in the Eastern District of New York. Prior to his appointment to the bench, Judge Brown served as the Director of Litigation and Chief Compliance Officer of CA Technologies. Before entering private practice, Judge Brown served as an Assistant United States Attorney in the Eastern District of New York for more than 15 years, concluding his service as the Chief of the Long Island Criminal Division. Judge Brown is also three-time recipient of the Director’s Award from the Executive Office for United States Attorneys and, in 2000, received the Federal Prosecutor’s Award from the National Law Enforcement Association. Upon graduation from law school, Judge Brown served as a law clerk to Judge Jacob Mishler of the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York. Judge Brown earned his A.B. from Columbia College and his J.D. from Yale Law School.
If confirmed, Diane Gujarati of New York will serve as a District Judge on the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York. Diane Gujarati serves as Deputy Chief of the Criminal Division of the United States Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York, where she has served as an Assistant United States Attorney for the past nineteen years. Ms. Gujarati also served as an Adjunct Professor of Clinical Law at New York University School of Law until earlier this year. Before joining the U.S. Attorney’s Office, Ms. Gujarati practiced for three years as a litigation associate in the New York City office of Davis Polk & Wardwell. Upon graduation from law school, Ms. Gujarati served as a law clerk to Judge John M. Walker, Jr., of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit. Ms. Gujarati earned her B.A., summa cum laude, from Barnard College of Columbia University, where she was inducted into Phi Beta Kappa, and her J.D. from Yale Law School, where she served as an editor of both the Yale Law Journal and the Yale Journal on Regulation.
If confirmed, Eric R. Komitee of New York will serve as a District Judge on the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York. Eric Komitee is the General Counsel of Viking Global Investors LP in New York City. He previously served for eight years as an Assistant United States Attorney for the Eastern District of New York, rising to serve as Chief of the Business and Securities Fraud Section. Before entering public service, Mr. Komitee practiced as an associate in the Government Enforcement and White Collar Crime group of Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher, & Flom and as an associate in the corporate practice group of Cravath Swaine & Moore. Upon graduation from law school, Mr. Komitee served as a law clerk to Judge J.L. Edmondson of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit. Mr. Komitee earned his B.A., with high honors, from Emory University, where he was inducted into Phi Beta Kappa, and his J.D., cum laude, from the New York University School of Law, where he served as the senior notes and comments editor of the NYU Law Review.
If confirmed, Rachel P. Kovner of New York will serve as a District Judge on the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York. Rachel Kovner serves as an Assistant to the Solicitor General in the Solicitor General’s Office within the Department of Justice, where she has represented the United States in litigation before the Supreme Court since 2013. Before joining the Solicitor General’s Office, Ms. Kovner served for four years as an Assistant United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, where she served as trial counsel in ten felony trials and argued seven appeals in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit. Upon graduation from law school, Ms. Kovner served as a law clerk to Judge J. Harvie Wilkinson III, of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit, and then to the late Justice Antonin Scalia of the Supreme Court of the United States. Ms. Kovner earned her A.B., magna cum laude, from Harvard College, and her J.D. from Stanford Law School, where she graduated first in her class, was inducted into the Order of the Coif, and served as the senior articles editor of the Stanford Law Review.
If confirmed, Lewis J. Liman of New York will serve as a District Judge on the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York. Lewis Liman is a partner in the New York City office of Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton LLP, where he has handled a wide range of civil, commercial, and white collar criminal litigation since joining the firm in 2003. Before joining Cleary Gottlieb, Mr. Liman was a partner at Wilmer, Cutler & Pickering. Prior to entering private practice, Mr. Liman served for five years as an Assistant United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, where he rose to serve as Deputy Chief of Appeals. Upon graduation from law school, Mr. Liman spent a brief period as an attorney at the N.A.A.C.P. Legal Defense and Educational Fund, Inc., before serving as a law clerk to Judge Pierre N. Leval of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit during his service as a U.S. District Judge on the Southern District of New York. Mr. Liman subsequently clerked for Justice John Paul Stevens of the Supreme Court of the United States. Mr. Liman earned his B.A., magna cum laude, from Harvard College, his M.Sc., with distinction, from the London School of Economics, and his J.D. from Yale Law School, where he served as an articles editor of the Yale Law Journal and as an editor of the Yale Journal of International Law.
If confirmed, Corey L. Maze of Alabama will serve as a District Judge on the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Alabama. Corey Maze serves as Special Deputy Attorney General for the State of Alabama. Since 2011, he has served as chief of the Attorney General’s Special Litigation unit and has acted as the State’s primary counsel in complex civil matters such as the 2010 oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico and the ongoing opioid crisis. From 2008 to 2011, Mr. Maze served as the Solicitor General of Alabama. During that period, he argued three cases in the Supreme Court of the United States and won three “Best Brief Awards” from the National Association of Attorneys General. Before his appointment as Solicitor General, Mr. Maze prosecuted criminal trials and appeals for five years as an Assistant Attorney General. Mr. Maze earned his B.A., summa cum laude, from Auburn University and his J.D., cum laude, from the Georgetown University Law Center.
If confirmed, John L. Sinatra, Jr., of New York will serve as a District Judge on the U.S. District Court for the Western District of New York. John Sinatra is a partner in the Buffalo firm Hodgson Russ, where his practice has focused on complex civil and commercial litigation in Federal and State courts nationwide since 2008. Before joining the firm, Mr. Sinatra served as Senior Counsel in the U.S. Department of Commerce and as an associate in the commercial litigation practice group at Jones Day. Upon graduation from law school, Mr. Sinatra served as a law clerk to the judges of the New York Court of Appeals. Mr. Sinatra earned his B.A., magna cum laude, from the State University of New York at Buffalo, where he was inducted into Phi Beta Kappa, and his J.D., cum laude, from the State University of New York at Buffalo School of Law, where he served as the notes and comments editor of the Buffalo Law Review.
If confirmed, Mary Kay Vyskocil of New York will serve as a District Judge on the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York. Mary Kay Vyskocil serves as a U.S. Bankruptcy Judge for the Southern District of New York, where she has served since her selection in 2016. Prior to her appointment to the bench, Judge Vyskocil practiced general commercial litigation for almost thirty-three years at the New York City-based law firm of Simpson Thacher & Bartlett, LLP. During that period, Judge Vyskocil was ranked as one of the “Top Ten Women Litigators in the United States” by Benchmark Litigation and, in 2016, received a “Top Women in Law Award” from the New York Law Journal. During her time in practice, she was recognized as a litigation leader by Chambers, Legal 500, Who’s Who Legal and America’s Leading Business Lawyers, and Law360. She is also the co-author of Modern Reinsurance Law & Practice, 3d ed. (Thompson Reuters 2015). Judge Vyskocil earned her undergraduate degree from the Dominican College of Blauvelt in Rockland County, New York, where she was the class Valedictorian and Student Government President, and her J.D. from St. John’s University School of Law, where she served on the Moot Court Executive Board.
If confirmed, Joshua Wolson of Pennsylvania will serve as a District Judge on the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania. Josh Wolson is a partner in the litigation group of Dilworth Paxson LLP, where he has practiced since 2008. During that time, he has represented plaintiffs and defendants in complex litigation matters, including antitrust, RICO, intellectual property, procurement, and civil rights disputes. He also serves as a co-chair of the firm’s Plaintiffs’ Rights Practice Group and a member of the firm’s Executive Committee. Before joining the firm, Mr. Wolson practiced in the litigation and antitrust groups of Covington & Burling LLP in Washington, D.C. Upon graduation from law school, Mr. Wolson served as a law clerk to Judge Jan E. DuBois of the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania. Mr. Wolson earned his B.A., magna cum laude, from the University of Pennsylvania and his J.D., cum laude, from Harvard Law School.
If confirmed, Maria Chapa Lopez will serve as the United States Attorney for the Middle District of Florida. Maria Chapa Lopez is currently the interim United States Attorney for the Middle District of Florida. From April 2016 to January 2018, she was the DOJ Deputy Attaché in the U.S. Embassy in Mexico City. From April 2000 to April 2016, she worked as an Assistant United States Attorney in the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Middle District of Florida, prosecuting complex transnational and domestic drug trafficking organizations, large-scale money laundering cases, and complex opioid cases. Prior to joining the U.S. Attorney’s Office, she served in the U.S. Army JAG Corps, achieving the rank of Lieutenant Colonel.
If confirmed, Brian T. Moran of Washington will serve as the United States Attorney for the Western District of Washington. Brian Moran is currently of counsel at the law firm Orrick, Herrington & Sutcliffe in Seattle, Washington. Prior to his current position, Mr. Moran served as the Chief Deputy Attorney General in the Office of the Washington State Attorney General from 2006-2013, supervising 575 Assistant Attorney Generals, 27 legal divisions and the Solicitor General’s Office. From 1998-2006, Mr. Moran served as the state Attorney General’s Chief Criminal Prosecutor where he and his staff assisted Washington’s 39 county prosecutors’ offices with the investigation and prosecution of violent crimes, conflict cases and sexually violent predator matters. Before joining the Washington Attorney General’s office, Mr. Moran spent 10 years as a Senior Deputy Prosecuting Attorney in Kitsap County prosecuting homicides and other violent crimes. He earned his B.A. from Middlebury College and his J.D. from Seattle University School of Law.
If confirmed, Todd L. Nukes of Indiana will serve as the United States Marshal for the Northern District of Indiana. Todd Nukes is currently the Acting United States Marshal for the Northern District of Indiana, a position he has held since 2015. He joined the U.S. Marshals Service (USMS) in 1990 and has spent his entire USMS career in the Northern District of Indiana, holding the positions of Deputy U.S. Marshal, Judicial Security Inspector, Chief Deputy U.S. Marshal, and now the Attorney General-appointed Acting United States Marshal. Mr. Nukes has served on numerous USMS Headquarters committees and boards throughout his career, is a current Executive Board Member on the Indiana High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area program, and has instructed at the National Judicial College in Reno, NV, on matters of Judicial Security. Prior to joining the USMS, Mr. Nukes served with the Grant County Sheriff’s Department from 1986 to 1990. He holds a B.S. in Criminology from Ball State University.
