Norton to Attend Investiture of Amit Mehta, Norton Recommendation for U.S. District Court, Today
WASHINGTON, D.C.—Congresswoman Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-DC) will attend the investiture ceremony of Judge Amit Mehta, who is the first Asian Pacific American judge on the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, today at 4:30 p.m. at 333 Constitution Avenue NW (Sixth Floor). Norton recommended Mehta to President Obama, and he was confirmed by the Senate in December. Prior to his appointment, Mehta was a partner in the law firm Zuckerman Spaeder LLP, where was recognized by several legal publications for his exemplary work, including Super Lawyers, The National Law Journal, and Benchmark Litigation.
"Today is a historic moment for the District of Colombia, and we could not be more pleased with Amit Mehta as our newest judge," Norton said. "Amit Mehta brings extensive civil and criminal professional experience, along with sterling academic credentials, that will greatly benefit our district court. I look forward to congratulating him in person."
Mehta is a graduate of Georgetown University, magna cum laude and Phi Beta Kappa, and the University of Virginia School of Law, Order of the Coif. He clerked for Judge Susan Graber, U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit. After clerking, Mr. Mehta worked at Zuckerman Spaeder as an associate for three years, and then worked for the Public Defender Service for the District of Columbia (PDS) for five years. At PDS, he represented indigent criminal defendants in trials, appeals and administrative proceedings. He later rejoined Zuckerman Spaeder, where he represented companies and individuals in a broad range of federal criminal matters, including bribery, political corruption, mail and wire fraud, export control and sanctions violations, and environmental crimes. He also represented plaintiffs and defendants in federal civil matters, including antitrust and a Securities and Exchange Commission enforcement action. In a pro bono capacity, he devoted more than 450 hours since 2010 to post-conviction proceedings for an individual convicted of murder. Mehta was born in India and moved with his family to the U.S. at the age of one.
President Obama, like President Clinton, granted Norton senatorial courtesy to recommend candidates for federal district court judges and other important federal law enforcement officials in the District. The Congresswoman recommended Mehta from a number of highly qualified candidates screened by her Federal Law Enforcement Nominating Commission, chaired by Pauline Schneider, a special counsel at Ballard Spahr LLP and a former president of the D.C. Bar. Norton expressed her appreciation to the nominating commission members, who include: Jon Bouker, Katherine Broderick, Francis D. Carter, Emilio W. Cividanes, Terence C. Golden, Shirley Higuchi, Dr. Charles Matthew Hudson, Jr., Marie Johns, Emma Coleman Jordan, Johnnie Scott Rice, Daniel Solomon, Carrie L. Thornhill, Sylvia Trujillo, and Judith Winston. President Obama has nominated and the Senate has confirmed all nine of Norton's other recommendations for district court judges – Ketanji Brown Jackson, Amy Berman Jackson, James E. Boasberg, Rudolph Contreras, Beryl A. Howell, Casey Cooper, Tanya Chutkan, Randolph Moss, and Robert Wilkins, who was the first of Norton's recommendations to President Obama for a vacancy on the district court and has since been elevated to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit.