Zahid N. Quraishi was appointed as a United States Magistrate Judge for the District of New Jersey in the Trenton Vicinage on June 3, 2019. Zahid, who is of Pakistani ancestry, is the first Asian-American to serve on the federal bench in New Jersey.
Prior to his appointment, he was Chair of Riker Danzig’s White Collar Criminal Defense and Investigations Group and his firm's first Chief Diversity Officer. His practice focused on white collar criminal defense, internal corporate investigations, and complex civil litigation.
Based in two of the top five legal markets—the New York City and Philadelphia metropolitan areas—Rutgers Law School in Camden and Newark, New Jersey, provides students with the practical training and support system to succeed as lawyers and to succeed professionally.On January 20, 2021, President Joe Biden (D) inherited 46 Article III federal judicial vacancies. As of his inauguration, there were two vacancies in the U.S. courts of appeal, 43 vacancies in the U.S. district courts, and one vacancy on the U.S. Court of International Trade.
So how did Biden compare with his predecessors on inherited vacancies? Biden had the third-lowest number of vacancies to fill since 1980. The two presidents with fewer seats to fill were President Ronald Reagan (R) with 34 and President George H.W. Bush (R) with 37. Biden's 46 inherited vacancies represent roughly one in every 20 life-term judicial positions (5.29%).
The scope of the historical analysis presented below is limited to those judicial positions on Article III courts in which confirmed nominees serve a life term. As of 2021, there were 870 of those positions. They include positions on the Supreme Court of the United States, the U.S. Court of International Trade, U.S. courts of appeal, and U.S. district courts. Regarding the district courts, we did not include four federal district judges who serve on U.S. territorial courts, as these district judges serve fixed terms of service.
By definition, a federal judge is a judge serving on any federal court. There is, however, considerable variation in the term length for these federal judges. Some federal judges are appointed for a life term, consistent with Article III of the United States Constitution, but there are other judges on Article III courts who serve a fixed term of office. Some judges serve on courts created under Article I of the Constitution. Some are local judges in Washington, D.C., who are still subject to presidential nomination and confirmation by the U.S. Senate.
shows the total number of judicial vacancies at the start of each month under the Biden administration beginning in January 2021. This number comes from vacancies in the U.S. Court of Appeals, U.S. District Courts, U.S. Court of International Trade, U.S. Court of Federal Claims, and the U.S. Supreme Court
Six judges left active status, creating Article III life-term judicial vacancies, since the previous vacancy count. As Article III judicial positions, vacancies must be filled by a nomination from the president. Nominations are subject to confirmation on the advice and consent of the U.S. Senate.
- Judge Catherine Blake assumed senior status on the U.S. District Court for the District of Maryland.
- Judge Emmet Sullivan assumed senior status on the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia.
- Judge Amy Totenberg assumed senior status on the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Georgia.
- Judge Timothy Stanceu assumed senior status on the U.S. Court of International Trade.
- Judge Colleen McMahon assumed senior status on the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York.
- Judge George Daniels assumed senior status on the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York.
David G. Estudillo is a judge of the Grant Superior Court in Washington. He was appointed by Democratic Governor Jay Inslee on August 19, 2015, for a term commencing on September 1.
At the time of his appointment to the Grant Superior Court, Estudillo was the only Latino judge in Eastern Washington serving in a superior, district, or municipal court. Estudillo won election to the seat in 2016 and re-election in 2020.
On April 29, 2021, President Joe Biden (D) nominated Estudillo to the United States District Court for the Western District of Washington. As of April 29, 2021, Estudillo was awaiting a hearing before the Senate Judiciary Committee. Click here for more information on Estudillo's federal judicial nomination.
Ballotpedia: The Encyclopedia of American Politics
President Joe Biden announced his intent on April 29 to nominate Tana Lin to the United States District Court for the Western District of Washington.
Lin has worked at Keller Rohrback LLP since 2004—her practice has focused on representing employees and shareholders in consumer and antitrust litigation. Previously, Lin was an attorney with the U.S. Department of Justice Employment Litigation Section. She began her legal career as a staff attorney at the Public Defender Service for the District of Columbia from 1991 to 1995.
Lin received her J.D. from the New York University School of Law in 1991, and her A.B., with distinction, from Cornell University in 1988.