Occupation: Chief Judge, U.S. Â Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit (Since February 2020)
Full name: Padmanabhan Srikanth Srinivasan
Born: February 23, 1967 (in Chandigarh, India)
Education: Stanford University (B.A., 1989), Stanford Law School (J.D., 1995), Stanford Graduate School of Business (M.B.A., 1995)
Padmanabhan Srikanth Srinivasan, better known as Sri Srinivasan, is an Indian American trailblazer, who is used to making history. Raised in Lawrence, Kansas, he first did it when he became a judge of the US Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit in May 2013, as a nominee of President Barack Obama.
He did it again in February when he became the first person of South Asian descent to be elevated as Chief Judge of the court seen as a stepping stone to the US Supreme Court.
Srinivasan recently acknowledged at a gathering that “it’s natural to doubt whether you belong and whether you’re worthy, but you do belong and you are worthy.â€
Armed with a BA from Stanford University, a JD from Stanford Law School, and an MBA from the Stanford Graduate School of Business, the intrepid lawyer took 25 cases before the nation’s highest court.
He also taught appellate advocacy at Harvard Law School and conducted a seminar on civil rights statutes as well as the Supreme Court at Georgetown University Law Center.
Other career highlights:*
Federal Judicial Service:
Nominated by Barack Obama on January 4, 2013, to a seat vacated by Arthur Raymond Randolph. Confirmed by the Senate on May 23, 2013, and received commission on May 24, 2013. Served as chief judge, 2020-present.
Professional Career:
Law clerk, Hon. J. Harvie Wilkinson III, U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit, 1995-1996
Bristow fellow, Office of the Solicitor General, U.S. Department of Justice, 1996-1997
Law clerk, Hon. Sandra Day O’Connor, Supreme Court of the United States, 1997-1998
Private practice, Washington, D.C., 1998-2002, 2007-2011
Assistant to the solicitor general, U.S. Department of Justice, 2002-2007
Principal deputy solicitor general, U.S. Department of Justice, 2011-2013
Member, Judicial Conference of the United States, 2020-present
Other Nominations/Recess Appointments:
Nominated to U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit, June 11, 2012; no Senate vote\
*Source: Federal Judicial Center
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