President Biden Names Fifty-First Round of Judicial Nominees

The President is announcing his intent to nominate three individuals to federal district courts—all of whom are extraordinarily qualified, experienced, and devoted to the rule of law and our Constitution.

These choices also continue to fulfill the President’s promise to ensure that the nation’s courts reflect the diversity that is one of our greatest assets as a country—both in terms of personal and professional backgrounds.

This will be President Biden’s fifty-first round of nominees for federal judicial positions, bringing the number of announced federal judicial nominees to 247.

United States District Court Announcements

1. Mary Kay Costello: Nominee for the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania

Mary Kay Costello has been an Assistant United States Attorney in the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania since 2008. Prior to joining the U.S. Attorney’s Office, Ms. Costello worked as a litigation associate at Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld LLP from 2004 to 2008 and at Saul Ewing LLP from 2001 to 2004, both in Philadelphia. Ms. Costello received her J.D., magna cum laude, from Temple University Beasley School of Law in 2001 and her B.A., summa cum laude, from Temple University in 1998. From 1986 to 1994, Ms. Costello served in the U.S. Air Force.

2. Laura Margarete Provinzino: Nominee for the United States District Court for the District of Minnesota

Laura Margarete Provinzino was born and raised in St. Cloud, Minnesota and has been an Assistant United States Attorney in the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Minnesota since 2010. Prior to joining the U.S. Attorney’s Office, Ms. Provinzino worked as a litigation associate at Robins Kaplan LLP from 2006 to 2010 in Minneapolis. From 2003 to 2004, Ms. Provinzino served as a law clerk for Judge Diana E. Murphy on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit. She received her J.D. from Yale Law School in 2003, a B.A. from Oxford University as a Rhodes Scholar in 2000, and a B.A. from Lewis & Clark College in 1998.

3. Judge Noël Wise: Nominee for the United States District Court for the Northern District of California

Judge Noël Wise has been a judge on the Superior Court of California in Alameda County since 2014, and a supervising judge since 2019. From 2021 to 2022, she served as a Judge Pro Tem for the California Second District Court of Appeal. She previously practiced law as a partner at Wise Gleicher in Alameda, California from 2006 to 2014 after working as in-house counsel for Pacific Gas and Electric Company in San Francisco from 2004 to 2006. From 2002 to 2004, Judge Wise was of counsel at Stoel Rives LLP in San Francisco. Before entering private practice, Judge Wise served as a trial attorney in the U.S. Department of Justice, Environmental and Natural Resources Division in Washington, D.C. from 1994 to 2002, where she entered through the Honors Program. From 1997 to 1998, she was detailed to serve as an Assistant United States Attorney in the U.S Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of California. Judge Wise served as a law clerk for Justice Harry Lee Anstead on the Florida Fourth District Court of Appeals from 1993 to 1994. She received her J.S.M. from Stanford Law School in 2002; her J.D., cum laude, from Nova Southeastern University Law School in 1993; and her B.S. from the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, in 1989.

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