Judges and Judiciary
Jul. 27, 2002
White House Gives the Nod To Nominee From Orrick
SAN FRANCISCO - Jeffrey White, a litigation partner at Orrick Harrington & Sutcliffe, cleared another hurdle to an appointment to the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California on Thursday when the White House sent his nomination to the Senate Judiciary Committee.
If confirmed by the committee and then by the full Senate, White will fill what is likely to be the only vacancy on the court until the next presidential election.
"I'm pleased and humbled that the president has placed his confidence in me, and I'm gratified that he has done so," White said in a brief telephone interview.
"I thank him and the two senators from California - Feinstein and Boxer. I'm looking forward to completing the process with the American Bar Association and the United States Senate."
According to sources close to the search, the White House selected White over three others whose names had been sent to the White House for consideration. They were San Francisco Superior Court Judge John Munter, Santa Clara Superior Court Judge Leslie Nichols and Charles Ferguson, a partner at LeBoeuf Lamb Greene & MacRae.
The ABA will determine whether White is "well qualified," "qualified" or "not qualified" to serve as a judge and will submit its evaluation to the Senate Judiciary Committee before it begins hearings on White. A date for those hearings has not been determined.
"I think the nomination of Jeffrey White to the Northern District court once again shows that highly qualified judges are being nominated to fill the vacancies in the district courts in California," Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., who serves on the 19-member Judiciary Committee, said in a statement.
"The judicial selection committee recommended him to the White House on a bipartisan 6-0 vote. I am delighted that he has been nominated, and I would anticipate him being confirmed by the Senate."
Sam Chapman, chief of staff, for Sen. Barbara Boxer, D-Calif., said White "should be quickly at home on the district court bench and do an excellent job."
For 15 years, White, 56, has served as national chairman of Orrick's litigation department in San Francisco.
He is a trial lawyer who focuses on employment, fraud, white-collar crime, securities, antitrust, environmental and construction cases. He lives in Moraga with his wife and two sons.
News of White's nomination was welcomed at his law firm and among colleagues at Boalt Hall, where White has taught civil trial practice for 20 years.
Boalt professor Eleanor Swift, who has taught courses with White, said he plays the role of judge in classes, instructing young lawyers in presenting cases.
"It's exciting to have a top litigator who is also a top educator be a federal district judge, because he knows how cases are supposed to be presented," Swift said.
White will "place very high standards of ethics and standards on attorneys," she added.
The praise was not universal. An attorney who has worked as opposing counsel to White complained that White was reluctant to extend "the normal professional courtesies between lawyers," such as agreeing to extend filing deadlines.
"He'll be a perfect fit with his colleagues on the bench," said the lawyer, who spoke on condition of anonymity. "Federal judges forget they were lawyers at one point, too."
Justice Carol Corrigan, of the 1st District Court of Appeal, praised White.
"He's the polar opposite of the arrogant, high-handed, take-no-prisoners lawyer who one would be concerned about bringing those traits to the bench," Corrigan said.
The vacancy White seeks to fill was created July 1, 2001 when U.S. District Judge Charles A. Legge retired. The bipartisan Judicial Advisory Committee, which reviewed White and 23 other candidates, comprises six members, three of whom were selected by Boxer and Feinstein. Gerald Parsky, President Bush's state chairman for judicial appointments, selected the other three.
At least four committee members must agree to forward a candidate's name to the White House.
White called himself "apolitical." Swift described him as a moderate Republican who is not politically active.
"The Democratic leadership recognized in him the qualities of a really fine judge," Swift said. "Jeff is not someone who has been grooming himself to be chosen in this intensely political environment of judicial appointments."
"The way Jeff thinks about issues is open and never dogmatic," said Orrick chairman Ralph Baxter. "He's not an ideologue."
Boxer's spokesman, Chapman, said White is widely respected in the legal community.
"We don't have a Democratic administration in Washington that is nominating federal judges, so we aren't able to pick exactly the people who we think would be the most ideal federal judges," he said.
Before joining Orrick, White was a trial lawyer for the U.S. Department of Justice. He served as chief of the criminal division in the U.S. attorney's office for Maryland. He earned his law degree at the State University of New York at Buffalo in 1970.
Joel Rosenblatt
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