President Donald Trump has nominated David S. Morales, an Austin attorney who previously served as general counsel to former Gov. Rick Perry, to become a U.S. District Court judge in the Southern District of Texas.

Morales, currently a partner in the Austin office of Kelly Hart & Hallman, served as Perry’s chief attorney from 2011 until 2014. From 2007 until 2011, Morales served as assistant Texas attorney general and rose to deputy first assistant under Greg Abbott, then Texas attorney general and now governor.