Edward DuMont, an appellate litigation partner in the Washington, D.C., office of Wilmer Cutler Pickering Hale and Dorr, has been nominated for a vacancy on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit, the White House announced on Wednesday.
DuMont, a member of WilmerHale's appellate and Supreme Court litigation practice group, joined the firm in 2002. Before entering private practice, he spent several years as an assistant to the U.S. Solicitor General. DuMont's nomination is the second that President Barack Obama has made to the Federal Circuit.
"Ed DuMont has distinguished himself throughout his legal career in both the public and private sectors," Obama said in a statement Wednesday evening. "He possesses a keen intellect and a commitment to fairness and integrity that will serve him well as a judge on the Federal Circuit."
DuMont, who has also served as an associate deputy attorney general, has argued 18 cases before the Supreme Court, according to the White House. A 1986 graduate of Stanford Law School, DuMont clerked for Judge Richard Posner of the 7th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals. DuMont was not immediately reached for comment Wednesday. Click here for more background on DuMont's practice, including cases he's argued or briefed in the Federal Circuit.
WilmerHale partner Seth Waxman, chair of the firm's appellate and Supreme Court litigation practice group, praised DuMont as a "formidable advocate" and "brilliant" lawyer. "Our firm's very great loss is the nation's singular gain," Waxman said. "Ed has the potential to be a truly great federal judge."
Last month, Obama nominated Judge Kathleen O'Malley of the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Ohio for a slot on the Federal Circuit. The Federal Circuit Bar Association heralded the O'Malley nomination, saying that she would fill an experience gap on that bench. There are currently no former federal trial judges sitting on the Federal Circuit.
First reported in The BLT: The Blog of Legal Times.
