Skip to main content

More Nominations Sent To Senate

Today, President Obama nominated Ronnie Abrams to the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York and Rudolph Contreras to the United States District Court for the District of Columbia.  

Ronnie Abrams currently serves as Special Counsel for Pro Bono at Davis Polk & Wardwell LLP, a position she has held since 2008. Previously, Abrams served as an Assistant United States Attorney in the Southern District of New York from 1998 to 2008, where she served as Acting Chief of the General Crimes Unit from 2004 to 2005, Chief of the General Crimes Unit from 2005 to 2007, and Deputy Chief of the Criminal Division from 2007 to 2008. From 1994 to 1998, Abrams was an associate at Davis Polk & Wardwell LLP. She served as a law clerk to the Honorable Thomas P. Griesa of the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York from 1993 to 1994. Abrams earned a J.D. in 1993 from Yale Law School and a B.A. in 1990 from Cornell University.

Rudolph Contreras has been an Assistant United States Attorney for the past 17 years, representing the federal government in civil litigation. For the past five years, Contreras has served as Chief of the Civil Division in the United States Attorney’s Office in the District of Columbia, having previously served in the same position in the District of Delaware from 2003 to 2006.

Contreras was recommended to President Obama by DC Delegate Eleanor Holmes Norton.

“Rudolph Contreras has had an unusually impressive legal career,” Norton said. “I am very pleased that the President has agreed to nominate this exceptionally well-qualified lawyer for our federal district court. Throughout his career as an assistant U.S. attorney and in private practice, he has demonstrated the consummate professionalism, intelligence, character, diligence, and collegiality that predict he will be an outstanding judge.”

Contreras, the son of Cuban immigrants, was born in New York but moved to Miami as a young child. He worked his way through Florida State University and graduated from the University of Pennsylvania Law School, cum laude and Order of the Coif, where he served on the law review. He spent the first three years of his legal career as a corporate litigator at Jones Day here, and has since been an assistant U.S. attorney in various capacities, including in important supervisory roles, mostly in the District of Columbia.

Contreras was hired from Jones Day by then-U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia Eric Holder as an assistant U.S. attorney in the civil division. He spent his first four years defending the government and the next four years prosecuting claims at both the trial and appellate levels. 
Prior to beginning his service as a government attorney in the District of Columbia in 1994, Contreras spent three years as an associate at Jones Day. He received his J.D. cum laude in 1991 from the University of Pennsylvania School of Law and his B.S. in 1984 from Florida State University.

“I am honored to put forward these highly qualified candidates for the federal bench,” President Obama said. “They will be distinguished public servants and valuable additions to the United States District Court.”

The president also nominated Judge Evan Jonathan Wallach to the United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit.  Judge Wallach is currently a judge on the United States Court of International Trade.

Judge Wallach has been a judge on the United States Court of International Trade, based in New York, since 1995.  He has also served as an adjunct law professor on the law of war at numerous institutions, including Brooklyn Law School and New York Law School, since 1997.

President Obama said of Wallach, “Judge Wallach has distinguished himself throughout his legal career in both the public and private sectors. He possesses a keen intellect and a commitment to fairness and integrity that will serve him well as a judge on the Federal Circuit.”

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

In wake of the Zika virus, travel, spring break still O.K.

Representatives from the CDC and the NIH were on hand at the White House during Monday's press briefing to update the public and address concerns over the Zika virus that has caused some babies to be born with deformities. Dr. Anne Schuchat from the Centers for Disease Control and Dr. Tony Fauci from the National Institutes of Health told reporters that a vaccine is in the making.   The pair also said they are particulary concerned about women who are pregnant, or plan to get pregnant, who have either traveled to or plan to travel to areas of South America and the Carribean known to have the Zika virus. Despite those bold statements, the doctors said there is no wide-spread concern and that Americans should continue to travel, including during upcoming college spring breaks --  when college students travel to warmer climate destinations to escape winter weather. "Travel to Zika-affected areas is very common among Americans, and we don’t think that needs to stop&quo

President Biden's EV Agenda

  Electric Vehicles   President Biden’s Investing in America Agenda is Unleashing a Manufacturing and Clean Energy Boom and Accelerating the Production of Affordable Electric Vehicles   As part of President Biden’s goal of having 50 percent of all new vehicle sales be electric by 2030, the White House is announcing the first set of public and private commitments to support America's historic transition to electric vehicles (EV) under the EV Acceleration Challenge.   These commitments are part of President Biden's  Investing in America  agenda to spur domestic manufacturing, strengthen supply chains, boost U.S. competitiveness and create good-paying jobs. Because of President Biden’s leadership and historic investments, electric vehicle sales have tripled and the number of publicly available charging ports has grown by over 40 percent since he took office. There are now more than three million EVs on the road and over 135,000 public EV chargers across the country.     President

(OTR): The White House on Hamas Terrorist Attack

 Tip: long read. FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE October 10, 2023 VIRTUAL ON-THE-RECORD GAGGLE BY NSC COORDINATOR FOR STRATEGIC COMMUNICATIONS JOHN KIRBY ON HAMAS TERRORIST ATTACKS IN ISRAEL   Via Teleconference 5:54 P.M. EDT   MR. KIRBY:  Good evening, everybody.  As you know, the White House has been closely following the situation in Israel, and the President has been actively engaged, regularly receiving updates on the latest developments from the national security team.  In fact, this morning, he met with members of the senior team -- including the Secretary of State; National Security Advisor; the Principal Deputy National Security Advisor; the Homeland Security Advisor, Liz Sherwood-Randall; and, of course, the White House Chief of Staff, Jeff Zients -- all to receive the latest update from -- from the morning.     He has also spoken twice with Prime Minister Netanyahu this -- over the weekend, certainly to express our deep sympathy for all those missing, wounded, and killed and to pledge