Thursday, February 25, 2016

The Obama Nominations: Judge Lucy Haeran Koh, Justice Donald W. Beatty and Donald C. Coggins, Jr.

 
Today, President Obama nominated Judge Lucy Haeran Koh to serve on the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit.

“Judge Lucy Haeran Koh has distinguished herself as a first-rate jurist with unflagging integrity and evenhandedness," President Obama said. "I am grateful for her service to the state of California and look forward to adding her considerable wisdom and experience to the Ninth Circuit Court."

Judge Lucy Haeran Koh has served as a United States District Judge for the Northern District of California since 2010 and previously served as a California Superior Court Judge for Santa Clara County from 2008 to 2010.

Judge Koh was born in Washington, D.C. and raised in Columbia, Maryland, Lorman and Vicksburg, Mississippi and Norman, Oklahoma.  She received her B.A., magna cum laude, from Harvard University in 1990, and her J.D. from Harvard Law School in 1993.  Judge Koh began her legal career as a Women’s Law and Public Policy Fellow for the United States Senate Judiciary Committee from 1993 to 1994.  Following her fellowship, she worked for the United States Department of Justice, serving first as Special Counsel in the Office of Legislative Affairs, from 1994 to 1996, and then as Special Assistant to the Deputy Attorney General, from 1996 to 1997.  From 1997 to 2000, Judge Koh served as an Assistant United States Attorney in the Criminal Division of the United States Attorney’s Office for the Central District of California.  There, she was awarded, among several recognitions, the Federal Bureau of Investigation Director Louis J. Freeh Award for Demonstrated Excellence in Prosecuting a Major Criminal Case.  From 2000 to 2002, she worked as a senior associate in the Palo Alto, California office of Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati.  From 2002 to 2008, she worked as a partner in the Palo Alto, California office of McDermott Will & Emery LLP, specializing in patent, trade secret, and commercial civil litigation.  In 2008, Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger appointed her to the California Superior Court for Santa Clara County, where she served until she was appointed to the federal bench in 2010.

Judge Koh has served on a number of bar and professional organizations throughout her legal career, including the American Law Institute, the Association of Business Trial Lawyers, and the Asian Pacific American Bar Association of Silicon Valley.

In addition, President Obama today nominated Donald W. Beatty and Donald C. Coggins, Jr. to serve on the United States District Court for the District of South Carolina.

“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.”

Justice Donald W. Beatty has served as an Associate Justice on the South Carolina Supreme Court since 2007.  He served as an Associate Judge on the South Carolina Court of Appeals from 2003 to 2007 and as a Circuit Court Judge on the South Carolina Seventh Judicial Circuit from 1995 to 2003.  Prior to his judicial service, from 1991 to 1995, Justice Beatty was elected to serve as a Member of the House of Representatives in the South Carolina General Assembly.  From 1981 to 1995, he worked as a solo practitioner, with the exception of a two-year period from 1989 to 1990, during which he was a partner at the law firm of Beatty, Vick and Tullis in Spartanburg, South Carolina (no longer operational).  Also during this time, he served as a council member for the Spartanburg City Council from 1988 to 1991.  Justice Beatty began his legal career working as an associate for the Neighborhood Legal Assistance Program in Conway, South Carolina (no longer operational) from 1979 to 1981.  He received his J.D. from the University of South Carolina School of Law in 1979 and his B.A. cum laude from South Carolina State University in 1974.

Donald C. Coggins, Jr. has been a shareholder at the law firm of Harrison, White, Smith & Coggins, P.C. (formerly Harrison, White, Smith, Hayes & Coggins, P.C.) in Spartanburg, South Carolina since 2000, where his practice focuses on civil litigation.  For three years, from 2010 to 2013, he was the firm’s managing shareholder.  Coggins also serves as a member of the South Carolina Commission on Lawyer Conduct, a position to which he was appointed in 2003.  Previously, from 1986 to 2000, Coggins was a partner at two Spartanburg, South Carolina law firms:  Smith and Coggins from 1993 to 2000 and Cummings, Smith and Coggins from 1986 to 1993 (both no longer operational).  He began his legal career working as an associate at Cummings and Smith from 1984 to 1986, before being elevated to partner.  Coggins received his J.D. from the University of South Carolina School of Law in 1984 and his B.A. from Clemson University in 1981. 

Source: The Office of the Press Secretary

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