Susan Carney, Yale University’s deputy general counsel, will join the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit, after the Senate put aside concerns about her lack of recent litigation work and voted yesterday for her confirmation. The 71-28 vote came after a debate over whether Ms. Carney’s 13 years in Yale’s in-house counsel’s office, and her earlier time in private practice in Washington, D.C., gave her sufficient experience to be a federal judge. In-house counsel make up a small minority of nominees for the federal bench, and Ms. Carney waited almost a full year for the Senate to act on her nomination.
Ms. Carney has never argued before a federal appellate court, though she has worked on appellate briefs and has helped to oversee litigation at Yale. She was a partner in Washington at two law firms for four years in the 1980s and also worked in-house at the Peace Corps and as of counsel at the labor firm Bredhoff & Kaiser. Senator Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., said during a debate leading up to the vote that Ms. Carney has “truly impressive credentials.” He cited her work at Yale on international transactions, intellectual property and other commercial matters. Senator Charles Grassley, R-Iowa, the top Republican on the Senate Judiciary Committee, voted for Ms. Carney but did so, he said, reluctantly. He said her qualifications for the circuit “remain somewhat of a mystery.” “According to her questionnaire, Ms. Carney appeared in court occasionally over the course of her career, and that word occasionally is her own,” Mr. Grassley said. “She has never tried any case to verdict, judgment or final decision, and absent that, she explains by saying that she ‘spent her law career as an appellate lawyer and in-house counsel.’”
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