Washington, D.C. (April 21, 2010) – The White House Office of the Press Secretary announced last week that President Barack Obama has nominated Judge Leslie E. Kobayashi, Judge Susan Richard Nelson, Judge Ellen Lipton Hollander, Judge James K. Bredar and Edmond E. Chang to United States District Court judgeships.
“I am honored to nominate these outstanding candidates to serve on the United States District Court bench,” said President Obama. “They all have long and distinguished records of service, and I am confident they will continue to serve the American people with integrity and an unwavering commitment to justice.”
Judge Leslie E. Kobayashi, the Nominee for the U.S. District Court for the District of Hawaii, serves as a United States Magistrate Judge for the District of Hawaii, a position she has held since 1999.
Prior to her appointment, Kobayashi was an associate attorney (1984-1991) and then partner and managing partner (1991-1999) with the Honolulu firm of Fujiyama, Duffy & Fujiyama. Before joining the firm, Judge Kobayashi served as a Deputy Prosecuting Attorney in Honolulu from 1983 to 1984. She received her J.D. in 1983 from Boston College School of Law and her B.A. from Wellesley College in 1979.
Edmond E. Chang, the Nominee for the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois, is an Assistant United States Attorney for the Northern District of Illinois, Chicago office, where he has represented the government in criminal cases at the trial and appellate levels since 1999.
Since 2005, Chang has served as Chief of Appeals for the Criminal Division, and he previously served as Deputy Chief of the General Crimes section. From 1997 to 1999, he was an associate in the Chicago office of Sidley Austin LLP, where he practiced in labor and employment litigation.
After law school, Chang was a law clerk to the Honorable James L. Ryan of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit and then for the Honorable Marvin E. Aspen of the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois. Since 1996, he has served as an adjunct professor of law at Northwestern University School of Law teaching civil rights litigation.
Chang received his B.S.E. in Aerospace Engineering (cum laude) in 1991 from the University of Michigan, and his J.D. (cum laude) in 1994 from Northwestern University School of Law.
Judge Susan Richard Nelson, the Nominee for the United States District Court for the District of Minnesota, serves as a U.S. Magistrate Judge for the District of Minnesota, a position she has held since 2000.
Prior to becoming a judge, she spent sixteen years in private practice with the Minneapolis firm of Robins, Kaplan, Miller & Ciresi (1984-2000), where she became a partner in 1988. After law school, Judge Nelson was an associate attorney from 1978 to 1980 with the firm of Reed, Smith, Shaw & McClay in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, and from 1980 to 1983 with the firm of Tyler, Cooper & Alcorn in New Haven, Connecticut. Judge Nelson received her J.D. in 1978 from the University of Pittsburgh School of Law and her B.A. in 1974 from Oberlin College.
Judge Ellen Lipton Hollander, the Nominee for the United States District Court for the District of Maryland, serves as an Associate Judge of the Maryland Court of Special Appeals, a position she has held since 1994.
Judge James K. Bredar, the Nominee for the United States District Court for the District of Maryland, serves as a U.S. Magistrate Judge for the District of Maryland, a position he has held since 1998.
