­­President Biden Names Twenty-Ninth Round of Judicial Nominees

The President is announcing his intent to nominate four individuals to serve as federal judges—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 twenty-ninth round of nominees for federal judicial positions, bringing the number of announced federal judicial nominees to 154. 

President Biden has spent decades committed to strengthening the federal bench, which is why he continues to move rapidly to fill judicial vacancies. And he has won confirmation of the most lower court judges for the first year of a presidency since the Kennedy Administration.

United States Circuit Court Announcement

1. Michael A. Delaney: Nominee for the United States Court of Appeals for the First Circuit

Michael A. Delaney has been a Director and Shareholder at McLane Middleton, P.A., in Manchester, New Hampshire since 2013. Mr. Delaney served as Attorney General of New Hampshire from 2009 to 2013 and as Legal Counsel to the Governor of New Hampshire from 2006 to 2009. Previously, Mr. Delaney served in the New Hampshire Department of Justice in several roles from 1999 to 2006, including as Deputy Attorney General from 2004 to 2006, Senior Assistant Attorney General from 2002 to 2004, Assistant Attorney General from 2000 to 2002, and as a staff attorney from 1999 to 2000. From 1994 to 1999, Delaney was an associate at Wiggin & Nourie, P.A. in Manchester, New Hampshire. He received his J.D. from Georgetown University Law Center in 1994, and his B.A. from College of the Holy Cross in 1991.

United States District Court Announcements

1. Judge Amanda Brailsford: Nominee for the United States District Court for the District of Idaho

Judge Amanda Brailsford has served as a judge on the Idaho Court of Appeals since 2019. She previously was a founding partner at Andersen Banducci PLLC in Boise, Idaho from 2013 to 2017. Judge Brailsford also worked at Holland & Hart LLP as an associate from 1995 to 2002 and as a partner from 2003 to 2013. She served as a law clerk for Judge Thomas G. Nelson on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit from 1993 to 1995. Judge Brailsford received her J.D. from the University of Idaho College of Law in 1993, and her B.A. from the University of Idaho in 1989.

1. Judge Jeffrey Cummings: Nominee for the United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois

Judge Jeffrey Cummings has served as a United States Magistrate Judge for the Northern District of Illinois since 2019. Judge Cummings was previously co-managing partner at Miner, Barnhill & Galland, P.C., where he worked from 1989 to 2019. Judge Cummings served as a law clerk for Judge Ann Claire Williams on the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois from 1987 to 1989. He received his J.D. from Northwestern Pritzker School of Law, cum laude, in 1987, and his B.A., with high honors, from Michigan State University in 1984.

1. Judge LaShonda A. Hunt: Nominee for the United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois

Judge LaShonda A. Hunt has served as a United States Bankruptcy Judge for the Northern District of Illinois since 2017. Judge Hunt previously served as General Counsel for the Illinois Department of Central Management Services in 2016 and as Chief Legal Counsel for the Illinois Department of Corrections from 2015 to 2016. Prior to that, she served as an Assistant U.S. Attorney in the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Illinois from 2003 to 2005 and then again from 2010 to 2015. Judge Hunt was Assistant General Counsel at Exelon Company from 2007 to 2009 and Regulatory Outreach Manager at Com Ed, a subsidiary of Exelon, from 2009 to 2010. She also worked as a schools project director for the Just the Beginning Foundation from 2006 to 2007, a staff attorney for the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit from 1998 to 2001, and an associate at Sonnenschein Nath & Rosenthal LLP from 1995 to 1998. Judge Hunt served as a law clerk for Judge William J. Hibbler on the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois from 2001 to 2003. She received her J.D. from the University of Michigan in 1995, and her B.S. from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign in 1992.

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