James Donato

James Donato (born July 29, 1960) is a United States District Judge of the United States District Court for the Northern District of California.

James Donato
Judge of the United States District Court for the Northern District of California
Incumbent
Assumed office February 26, 2014
Appointed by	Barack Obama
Preceded by	James Ware
Personal details
Born	July 29, 1960 Pasadena, California
Residence	Berkeley, California
Education	UC Berkeley (B.A.) Harvard University (A.M.) Stanford Law School (J.D.)

Biography

Donato was born on July 29, 1960, in Pasadena, California.[1][2] He received a Bachelor of Arts degree in 1983 from the University of California, Berkeley. He received an Artium Magister degree in 1984 from Harvard University. He received a Juris Doctor in 1988 from Stanford Law School, where he was an executive board member of the Stanford Law Review. He served as a law clerk for Judge Procter Ralph Hug, Jr. on the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit from 1988 to 1989. From 1990 to 1993, he was an associate at the law firm of Morrison & Foerster LLP. He served as a deputy city attorney in the San Francisco City Attorney's Office from 1993 to 1996. He served as a partner at Cooley LLP from 1996 to 2009. From 2009 to 2014 he served as a litigation partner in the San Francisco office of Shearman & Sterling LLP. His practice concentrated on antitrust litigation and class action lawsuits.[3] He is a past president of the Bar Association of San Francisco.[4]

Federal judicial service

On June 20, 2013, President Obama nominated Donato to serve as a United States District Judge of the United States District Court for the Northern District of California, to the seat vacated by Judge James Ware, who retired on August 31, 2012. His nomination was submitted to the Senate Judiciary Committee.[3] Donato's nomination hearing was held on September 11, 2013, before the committee. On October 31, 2013, Donato was unanimously reported out of the committee. On February 12, 2014, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid filed for cloture on Donato's nomination. On Tuesday February 25, 2014, the Senate voted 55–42 to invoke cloture on Donato's nomination, with 1 senator voting present. Later that day the nomination was confirmed by a vote of 90–5.[5] Donato received his judicial commission on February 26, 2014.[4]

References

1. "Attorney James Donato – Lawyer in Palo Alto CA". www.lawyercentral.com.
2. "Senate Judiciary Committee Nomination Questionnaire" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2017-02-02. Retrieved 2013-07-25.
3. "President Obama Announces Intent to Nominate Three to Serve on the United States District Court". 20 June 2013.
4. "Donato, James – Federal Judicial Center". www.fjc.gov.
5. "U.S. Senate: U.S. Senate Roll Call Votes 113th Congress – 2nd Session". www.senate.gov.

Sources

• James Donato at the Biographical Directory of Federal Judges, a public domain publication of the Federal Judicial Center.
• James Donato at Ballotpedia