Biden nominates Indian-US Kumar as federal judge

WASHINGTON: The US President Joe Biden has nominated Indian-American circuit court chief judge Shalina D Kumar as a federal judge for the Eastern District of Michigan, the White House announced on Wednesday.

She graduated from the University of Michigan in 1993 and the University of Detroit-Mercy School of Law in 1996. Nominated by Biden to the US District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan, Chief Judge Shalina D Kumar has served on the Oakland County Sixth Circuit Court since 2007. She was appointed Chief Judge of the Circuit Court by the Michigan Supreme Court in January of 2018, a media release said. Kumar would be the first federal judge of South Asian descent in Michigan, the White House said. In addition to her chief judge duties, Judge Shalina D Kumar retains a full caseload covering both civil and criminal matters, the White House said. Prior to taking the bench, Kumar was a civil litigator in private practice from 1997 to 2007, including as an associate with Weiner & Cox PLC from 2004 to 2007 and Sommers, Schwartz, Silver & Schwartz PC from 2000 to 2004.