Monday, February 12, 2018

9th Cir. nomination!

President Donald Trump nominated several attorneys to appellate judgeships in the Ninth, Seventh and Fifth circuits on Monday, the latest picks to fill out some of the highest-profile vacancies in the country.
The administration put forward Starn O’Toole Marcus & Fisher director Mark J. Bennett for a Ninth Circuit seat, US District Judge Amy J. St. Eve and Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom LLP partner Michael Y. Scudder, Jr., for Seventh Circuit seats and Texas Gov. Greg Abbott’s general counsel Andrew S. Oldham for a Fifth Circuit vacancy.
From his law firm bio:

Mark J. Bennett, Honolulu Litigation AttorneyIn January 2011, Mark Bennett joined the law firm after having served eight years as Hawaii's (appointed) Attorney General.  Prior to that, he was for twelve years a partner in a major Hawaii law firm specializing in complex litigation.  He also spent nine years as an Assistant United States Attorney in Hawaii and Washington, D.C., trying major criminal and civil cases on behalf of the United States. Mr. Bennett concentrates his practice in the areas of complex litigation, appellate litigation, antitrust, and government relations. 
...

As an appellate attorney, Mr. Bennett has argued and briefed scores of cases before the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit and the Hawaii Supreme Court, and has twice successfully argued before the Supreme Court of the United States in  Hawaii v. Office of Hawaiian Affairs, 556 U.S. 163 (2009), and Lingle v. Chevron, 544 U.S. 528 (2005).