Norton Congratulates Robert Wilkins on his Nomination to U.S. District Court for D.C. (5/20/2010)

Norton Congratulates Robert Wilkins on his Nomination to the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia

May 20, 2010

Washington, DC--Congresswoman Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-DC) today spoke with Robert L. Wilkins after the White House informed her that the President will nominate Wilkins, whom she recommended, to be a judge on the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia. President Obama, like President Clinton, granted the Congresswoman senatorial courtesy to recommend federal district court judges and other important federal law enforcement officials in the District. She recommended Wilkins from a number of candidates screened by her Federal Law Enforcement Nominating Commission, chaired by Pauline Schneider, a former chair of the D.C. Bar and a partner at a law firm, Orrick, Herrington & Sutcliffe LLP.

"Robert Wilkins brings the full range of experience that makes for a great federal trial court judge," Norton said. "He has represented the poor and the mighty alike, and his reputation among his peers, especially for a young man, is universally high. Robert Wilkins represents the best of the brilliant lawyers who live in the District of Columbia."

Wilkins, named one of the "90 Greatest Lawyers of the Last 30 Years" in 2008 by the Legal Times, has a combination of extensive civil and criminal trial experience in both private and public practice. He first developed a strong reputation as a trial lawyer at the Public Defender Service (PDS) here, where he tried more than 30 cases and became known as a top litigator in cutting-edge criminal and civil trials.

He became a chief of Special Litigation and Programs at PDS, where he handled complex matters, including judicial investigations, impact litigation and appellate work. Today he is a partner at a top law firm, Venable LLP, where he works on criminal and civil litigation and appeals.

Wilkins graduated from Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology, cum laude, with a degree in chemical engineering in 1986, and from Harvard Law School in 1989, where he served as Executive Editor and Comment Editor of one of its law journals, and was active in the Black Law Student Association. He later clerked for a judge on the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of California.