President Biden Names Seventeenth Round of Judicial Nominees

The President is announcing five new federal judicial nominees, 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.

For example, if confirmed, Ana Reyes—who immigrated to the United States as a child—would be the first Hispanic woman to ever serve on the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia. She would also be the first openly LGBTQ person to ever serve on that court.

This is President Biden’s seventeenth round of nominees for federal judicial positions and his fifth slate of nominations in 2022, bringing the number of announced federal judicial nominees to 95.

President Biden has spent decades committed to strengthening the federal bench, which is why he continues to move rapidly to fill judicial vacancies. And he has won confirmation of the most lower court judges for the first year of a presidency since the Kennedy Administration.

Circuit Court

1. Judge Sarah A. L. Merriam: Nominee for the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit 

Judge Sarah A. L. Merriam has served as a U.S. District Court Judge for the District of Connecticut since 2021. Judge Merriam previously served as a U.S. Magistrate Judge for the District of Connecticut from 2015 to 2021. She served as an Assistant Federal Public Defender for the District of Connecticut from 2007 to 2015. Judge Merriam worked on political campaigns in Connecticut from 2006 to 2007. She was an associate at the Connecticut-based law firm Cowdery, Ecker & Murphy from 2003 to 2006. Judge Merriam served as a law clerk for Judge Thomas Meskill on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit from 2002 to 2003 and for Judge Alvin Thompson on the U.S. District Court for the District of Connecticut from 2000 to 2002. Judge Merriam received her LL.M from Duke Law School in 2018, her J.D. from Yale Law School in 2000, and her B.A. from Georgetown University in 1993.

1. Lara E. Montecalvo: Nominee for the United States Court of Appeals for the First Circuit

Lara E. Montecalvo is the Public Defender of Rhode Island, a role she has held since 2020. Ms. Montecalvo previously served as an assistant public defender in the Rhode Island Public Defender’s Office from 2004 to 2020. She held several roles in that office, including as Chief of the Appellate Division from 2014 to 2020, an appellate attorney from 2010 to 2014, and a trial attorney from 2004 to 2010. Ms. Montecalvo was a trial attorney in the Tax Division of the U.S. Department of Justice from 2000 to 2004. Ms. Montecalvo received her J.D., magna cum laude, from Boston College Law School in 2000 and her B.A. from Swarthmore College in 1996.

District Court

1. Judge Elizabeth Hanes: Nominee for the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia

Judge Elizabeth Hanes has served as a U.S. Magistrate Judge for the Eastern District of Virginia since 2020. From 2016 to 2020, Judge Hanes was a civil litigator at Consumer Litigation Associates, P.C. in Newport News, Virginia. From 2009 to 2016, she was an Assistant Federal Public Defender in the Eastern District of Virginia. Judge Hanes served as a law clerk for Judge Robert B. King on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit from 2008 to 2009 and for Judge Joseph R. Goodwin on the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of West Virginia from 2007 to 2008. Judge Hanes received her J.D., summa cum laude, from the University of Richmond School of Law in 2007, and her B.A., cum laude, from the University of Richmond in 2000.

1. Anne M. Nardacci: Nominee for the United States District Court for the Northern District of New York

Anne M. Nardacci is a partner at Boies Schiller Flexner LLP in Albany, New York, where she has worked since 2005. Prior to being elevated to partner in 2020, Ms. Nardacci was a counsel from 2012 to 2020 and an associate from 2005 to 2012. From 2002 to 2005, Ms. Nardacci was an associate at Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom LLP. Ms. Nardacci received her J.D., cum laude, from Cornell Law School in 2002 and her B.A., magna cum laude, from Georgetown University in 1998.

1. Ana C. Reyes: Nominee for the United States District Court for the District of Columbia

Ana C. Reyes is a partner at Williams & Connolly LLP in Washington, D.C., where she has worked since 2001. Prior to being elevated to partner in 2009, Ms. Reyes was an associate from 2001 to 2009. Ms. Reyes served as a law clerk for Judge Amalya Kearse on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit from 2000 to 2001. Ms. Reyes received her J.D., magna cum laude, from Harvard Law School in 2000, her Masters in International Public Policy from the Johns Hopkins School of International Studies, with honors, in 2014, and her B.S., summa cum laude, from Transylvania University in 1996.

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