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Jamal Whitehead
Judge of the United States District Court for the Western District of Washington
Assumed office
March 14, 2023
Appointed by Joe Biden
Preceded by Richard A. Jones
Personal details
Born
Jamal Norman Whitehead

1979 (age 44–45)
Turnersville, New Jersey, U.S.
Education University of Washington ( BA)
Seattle University ( JD)

Jamal Norman Whitehead (born 1979) [1] is an American lawyer who is a United States district judge of the United States District Court for the Western District of Washington.

Early life and education

Whitehead was born in the Turnersville section of Washington Township, Gloucester County, New Jersey. [1] He earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in political science from the University of Washington in 2004 and a Juris Doctor from the Seattle University School of Law in 2007. [2]

Career

From 2007 to 2010, Whitehead worked as an attorney at Garvey Schubert Barer in Seattle. From 2010 to 2014, he served as a senior trial attorney in the Seattle office of the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. From 2014 to 2016, he served as an Assistant United States Attorney for the Western District of Washington. From 2016 to 2023, he was a shareholder at Schroeter Goldmark & Bender in Seattle. [3] Whitehead is a past president of the Loren Miller Bar Association, Washington's oldest and largest minority bar. [4]

Notable cases

In 2018, Whitehead served as co-counsel for a disabled car dealership employee after he was fired by Mercedes-Benz of Seattle when he began using a prosthetic voice box to speak. Whitehead tried the case to verdict before a federal jury, which returned a $5 million verdict in his client's favor. [5] [6] The car dealership appealed the verdict, and Whitehead successfully argued the case before the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals. [7] [8] The Court would later affirm the trial court's judgment. [9]

In 2021, Whitehead represented private plaintiffs when they sued a private prison, GEO Group, for paying incarcerated ICE detainees $1 a day in its work program. [8] The Court appointed Whitehead as class counsel for over 10,000 detained persons seeking back wages. The state of Washington stated the company must pay detainees the state minimum wage, just as other private corporations doing contract work with the state are required to. [10] After a three-week trial, a federal jury returned a verdict of $17.3 million to the class of workers. [11] [12]

Federal judicial service

On July 13, 2022, President Joe Biden nominated Whitehead to serve as a United States district judge of the United States District Court for the Western District of Washington. President Biden nominated Whitehead to the seat vacated by Judge Richard A. Jones, who subsequently assumed senior status on September 5, 2022. [13] On September 21, 2022, a hearing on his nomination was held before the Senate Judiciary Committee. [14] On December 1, 2022, his nomination was reported out of committee by a 12–10 vote. [15] On January 3, 2023, his nomination was returned to the President under Rule XXXI, Paragraph 6 of the United States Senate; he was renominated later the same day. [16] On February 2, 2023, his nomination was reported out of committee by an 11–9 vote. [17] On February 28, 2023, the Senate invoked cloture on his nomination by a 51–43 vote. [18] Later that day, his nomination was confirmed by a 51–43 vote. [19] He received his judicial commission on March 14, 2023. [20] He was sworn in on April 4, 2023. [21]

Personal life

During her introduction in front of the United States Senate Committee on the Judiciary, senator Patty Murray said that Whitehead is the first judicial nominee by President Joe Biden to have a physical disability (he uses a prosthetic leg). [14] [22] [23]

See also

References

  1. ^ a b "Questionnaire for Judicial Nominees" (PDF). United States Senate Committee on the Judiciary. Retrieved September 19, 2022.
  2. ^ "Jamal Whitehead | Schroeter Goldmark & Bender, Seattle Law Firm & Trial Lawyers". sgb-law.com. Retrieved 2022-07-13.
  3. ^ "President Biden Names Twenty-Second Round of Judicial Nominees". The White House. July 13, 2022. Retrieved July 13, 2022.Public Domain This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain.
  4. ^ Sheppard, Cameron (1 August 2021). "King County Council OKs millions for courts overwhelmed by pandemic backlog". Auburn Reporter. Retrieved 30 September 2022.
  5. ^ "Federal jury awarded $5 million to man fired from Mercedes-Benz of Seattle after cancer surgery". The Seattle Times. 2018-10-11. Retrieved 2023-03-04.
  6. ^ "First Biden Judge With Disclosed Disability to Join Trial Court". news.bloomberglaw.com. Retrieved 2023-05-10.
  7. ^ Jamal Whitehead - Attorney, Schroeter Goldmark and Bender - Ninth Circuit Oral Argument, retrieved 2023-03-04
  8. ^ a b E, Rachel (March 2023). "Judge With Disclosed Disability Appointed to Trial Court by Joe Biden | JDJournal". www.jdjournal.com. Retrieved 2023-05-10.
  9. ^ "NOT FOR PUBLICATIONUNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALSFOR THE NINTH CIRCUIT". www.bloomberglaw.com. Retrieved 2023-05-10.
  10. ^ "ICE Contractor Trial over Dollar-A-Day Wages Set for June - Law360".
  11. ^ "Jury awards $17.3 million to immigrants held in Washington state for work performed at detention center". The Seattle Times. 2021-10-29. Retrieved 2023-03-04.
  12. ^ Wiessner, Daniel (2021-12-09). "GEO Group can't nix $17.3 mln award in $1-a-day detainee pay case". Reuters. Retrieved 2023-05-10.
  13. ^ "Nominations Sent to the Senate" (Press release). Washington, D.C.: The White House. July 13, 2022.
  14. ^ a b "Nominations". Washington, D.C.: United States Senate Committee on the Judiciary. September 21, 2022.
  15. ^ "Results of Executive Business Meeting – December 1, 2022" (PDF). United States Senate Committee on the Judiciary. Retrieved December 1, 2022.
  16. ^ "Nominations Sent to the Senate" (Press release). Washington, D.C.: The White House. January 3, 2023.
  17. ^ "Results of Executive Business Meeting – February 2, 2023" (PDF). United States Senate Committee on the Judiciary. Retrieved February 2, 2023.
  18. ^ "On the Cloture Motion (Motion to Invoke Cloture: Jamal N. Whitehead to be U.S. District Judge for the Western District of Washington)". United States Senate. February 28, 2023. Retrieved February 28, 2023.
  19. ^ "On the Nomination (Confirmation: Jamal N. Whitehead, of Washington, to be U.S. District Judge for the Western District of Washington)". United States Senate. February 28, 2023. Retrieved February 28, 2023.
  20. ^ Jamal Whitehead at the Biographical Directory of Federal Judges, a publication of the Federal Judicial Center.
  21. ^ "Welcome to District Judge Jamal N. Whitehead". wawd.uscourts.gov. June 14, 2023. Retrieved June 22, 2023.
  22. ^ "Battling Bias, They Learn from Anne Frank". Seattle Times.
  23. ^ "Judge Pick with Disability Raises Hopes for a Group Often Unseen".

External links

Legal offices
Preceded by Judge of the United States District Court for the Western District of Washington
2023–present 		Incumbent
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