Two Fourth Circuit Nominations in One Day

By Steve Klepper (Twitter: @MDAppeal)

Jane, get me off this crazy thing… called legal news. It’s not even 2:30 p.m., and already the Southern District of New York has appointed a special master to review documents seized from Michael Cohen, and Bill Cosby was convicted on retrial.

It’s actually below-the-fold legal news that that the White House today announced the Administration’s thirteenth wave of judicial nominees, which includes two nominees to the Fourth Circuit. Both would presumably maintain their chambers in South Carolina. Still, if they’re confirmed, you could check in at 8:30 a.m. in Richmond some morning to discover that either or both is on your panel.

From the press release:

If confirmed, A. Marvin Quattlebaum, Jr., of South Carolina will serve as a Circuit Judge on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit. Marvin Quattlebaum serves as a U.S. District Judge for the District of South Carolina, where he has served since his confirmation by the U.S. Senate and appointment by President Trump in 2018. Before ascending to the bench, Judge Quattlebaum was a partner in the Greenville, South Carolina, office of Nelson Mullins Riley & Scarborough, LLP—the same firm where he started his legal career as an associate in 1989.During his 28 years at Nelson Mullins, Judge Quattlebaum’s practice focused on complex business and civil litigation in Federal courts nationwide. On the basis of this expertise, he was invited to serve both as a Fellow in the American College of Trial Lawyers and as a permanent member of the Judicial Conference for the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit. From 2011 to 2012, Judge Quattlebaum served as the President of the South Carolina Bar. Judge Quattlebaum earned his B.A., cum laude, from Rhodes College and his J.D. from the University of South Carolina School of Law, where he served as a member of the South Carolina Law Review.

If confirmed, Julius “Jay” N. Richardson of South Carolina will serve as a Circuit Judge on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit. Jay Richardson serves as the Deputy Criminal Chief of the United States Attorney’s Office for the District of South Carolina. Since becoming an Assistant United States Attorney in 2009, he has focused on prosecuting violent crime, gangs, terrorism, public corruption, civil rights, and narcotics trafficking. He recently served as the lead prosecutor on United States v. Dylann Storm Roof, where the jury convicted and sentenced Roof to death for his racist massacre of nine African-American worshippers during a Bible study at Mother Emanuel AME Church in Charleston, South Carolina. Mr. Richardson previously handled complex civil litigation for three years as an associate with the Washington, D.C., firm of Kellogg, Huber, Hansen, Todd, Evans & Figel (now known as Kellogg Hansen). Before entering private practice, Mr. Richardson served as a law clerk to Chief Justice William H. Rehnquist of the Supreme Court of the United States and Judge Richard A. Posner of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit. Mr. Richardson earned his B.S. from Vanderbilt University and his J.D., with high honors, from the University of Chicago, where he served as an articles editor of the University of Chicago Law Review.