Three days ago, the White House announced that Karen Gren Scholer and Matthew Kacsmaryk have been nominated to serve as Northern District of Texas judges. Ms. Scholer had previously been nominated by President Obama to a judgeship in the Eastern District of Texas. As I understand it, Mr. Kacsmaryk would fill the Amarillo judgeship vacancy.
According to the White House:
- “If confirmed, Karen Gren Scholer of Texas will serve as a District Judge on the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Texas. Karen Scholer is a principal and serves as the co-managing partner in the Dallas law firm of Carter Scholer PLLC, where her practice focuses on complex business, tort, and other civil litigation in State and Federal courts. Before joining the firm, she was a partner at the law firm of Jones Day. In 2000, she was elected, and in 2004 reelected, by the people of Texas to serve for eight years as a State District Judge in Dallas County, where she presided over thousands of cases, including more than 100 cases tried to jury verdict. In 2007, she also served as the Presiding Judge for the Dallas County Civil District Judges. Ms. Scholer has been identified as one of the Top 50 Women Lawyers in Texas by Thomson Reuters’ Super Lawyers, and she has received awards for professional excellence from a number of Asian-American community and service organizations. Ms. Scholer earned her B.A. from Rice University and her J.D. from Cornell University Law School.”
- “If confirmed, Matthew J. Kacsmaryk of Texas will serve as a District Judge on the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Texas. Matthew Kacsmaryk is Deputy General Counsel to First Liberty Institute, where his practice focuses on religious liberty litigation in federal courts and amicus briefs in the U.S. Supreme Court. From 2008 through 2013, he served as an Assistant United States Attorney in the Northern District of Texas, where he was lead counsel in over 75 criminal appeals and co-counsel in high-profile criminal and terrorism trials. In 2013, Mr. Kacsmaryk received the Attorney General’s Award for Excellence in Furthering the Interests of U.S. National Security for his work in United States v. Aldawsari. From 2003 to 2008, he was an associate in the Dallas office of Baker Botts LLP, where he focused on commercial, constitutional, and intellectual property litigation. In 2005, he received the firm’s Opus Justitiae Award for Outstanding Commitment to Pro Bono Work. He earned his J.D. with honors from the University of Texas School of Law in 2003 and his B.A., summa cum laude, from Abilene Christian University in 1999.”
Congratulations to Ms. Scholer and Mr. Kacsmaryk on their respective nominations!