Senate Judiciary Committee Advances Nominations of John Lee to the Seventh Circuit and Nancy Maldonado to the Northern District of Illinois

WASHINGTON – The Senate Judiciary Committee today advanced the nominations John Z. Lee to be United States Circuit Judge for the Seventh Circuit and Nancy L. Maldonado to be United States District Judge for the Northern District of Illinois.  U.S. Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL), Chair of the Senate Judiciary Committee, and U.S. Senator Tammy Duckworth (D-IL) today released the following statement on their nominations:

“We are pleased that the Senate Judiciary Committee has advanced Judge Lee’s and Ms. Maldonado’s nominations.  Not only do they have the qualifications, integrity, and judgment to serve with distinction as a United States Circuit Judge for the Seventh Circuit and United States District Judge for the Northern District of Illinois, respectively, but they also bring important demographic diversity to the bench.  We look forward to their nominations coming before the full Senate and urge our colleagues to support them.”

Now that the Judiciary Committee has voted on Judge Lee’s and Ms. Maldonado’s nominations, they will head to the full Senate for a vote.

Bios of the Illinois nominees from the White House are included below:

Judge John Z. Lee: Nominee for the United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit

Judge John Z. Lee has served as a U.S. District Court Judge for the Northern District of Illinois since 2012. From 1999 to 2012, Judge Lee was an associate and then partner at Freeborn & Peters LLP in Chicago. From 1996 to 1999, Judge Lee was an associate at Grippo & Elden LLC, and from 1994 to 1996, he was an associate at Mayer Brown LLP. Mr. Lee served as a trial attorney in the Environmental and Natural Resources Division of the U.S. Department of Justice from 1992 to 1994.

Judge Lee received his A.B., magna cum laude, from Harvard College in 1989, and his J.D. from Harvard Law School, cum laude, in 1992.

Nancy L. Maldonado: Nominee for the United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois

Nancy L. Maldonado is a partner at Miner, Barnhill & Galland, P.C. in Chicago, Illinois. Ms. Maldonado joined the firm as an associate in 2003 and was elevated to partner in 2010. Ms. Maldonado previously served as a law clerk for Judge Rubén Castillo on the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois from 2001 to 2003.

Ms. Maldonado received her J.D. from Columbia Law School in 2001, and her A.B., cum laude, from Harvard College in 1997.

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