President Obama Nominates Christopher Cooper for U.S. District Court Judge Following Norton’s Recommendation

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Congresswoman Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-DC) today spoke by phone with Christopher "Casey" Cooper, a longtime D.C. resident, in London, informing him that President Obama would nominate him to become a judge on the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, as recommended by the Congresswoman. Cooper is currently a partner at the law firm Covington & Burling LLP.

"Christopher Cooper's outstanding background and criminal and civil experience stood out even among the exceptionally well-qualified candidates who came forward," said Norton. "I have every confidence that he will continue along the path of excellence that has characterized his entire career."

Cooper, an African American, is a graduate of Yale College, summa cum laude and Phi Beta Kappa, and Stanford Law School, where he graduated with distinction and served as president of the law review. He clerked for Judge Abner J. Mikva, U.S. Court of Appeals, District of Columbia Circuit. After his clerkship, he served as Special Assistant to then-Deputy Attorney General Jamie Gorelick for two years. When he left the Department of Justice (DOJ), he joined the law firm Miller, Cassidy, Larroca & Lewin, L.L.P. (later merged into the law firm Baker Botts L.L.P.), where he served as an associate and partner from 1996 to 2012. After practicing in Washington, D.C. for his entire career, Cooper moved with his family to London, where he joined Baker Botts' London office, and in 2012 became a partner at Covington & Burling.

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 Cooper from a number of candidates screened by her 16-member Federal Law Enforcement Nominating Commission, chaired by Pauline Schneider, a former chair of the D.C. Bar and a special counsel at Ballard Spahr LLP. President Obama has nominated and the Senate has confirmed all six of Norton's other recommendations for district court judges (Amy Berman Jackson, James E. Boasberg, Rudolph Contreras, Beryl A. Howell, Robert L. Wilkins and Ketanji Brown Jackson).

Published: August 1, 2013