A former federal prosecutor and current law firm partner was nominated by President Barack Obama today to serve on the San Francisco-based U.S. District Court for Northern California.
Haywood Gilliam was nominated at the recommendation of U.S. Sen. Dianne Feinstein, who praised Gilliam’s “broad and impressive legal experience” in a statement today.
Gilliam must be confirmed by the Senate. If approved, he will take the seat of U.S. District Judge Claudia Wilken, who plans to move to senior, or semi-retired, status at the end of the year.
Gilliam is currently a partner in the San Francisco office of the law firm of Covington & Burling LLP, which has its headquarters in Washington D.C. He specializes in white-collar criminal defense and regulatory enforcement cases.
From 1999 to 2006, Gilliam was an assistant U.S. attorney, serving as a federal prosecutor, in San Francisco. He was chief of the securities fraud section of the U.S. attorney’s office from 2005 to 2006.
Gilliam earned his law degree from Stanford Law School and his bachelor’s degree from Yale University. After graduating from law school in 1994, he worked for one year as a law clerk to U.S. District Judge Thelton Henderson of San Francisco, who will now be one of his colleagues on the bench, if Gilliam is confirmed by the Senate.
Obama said in a statement, “I am confident he will serve the American people with integrity and a steadfast commitment to justice.”
Julia Cheever, Bay City News
