President Trump renominates Indian-American for Judgeship

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President Trump sent 30 nominations to the U.S. Senate Jan. 3, 2021, for approval, among them the renomination of an Indian-American, Vijay Shanker, of the District of Columbia, to be an Associate Judge of the District of Columbia Court of Appeals for the term of fifteen years, to fill the post of Judge John R. Fisher who retired in August 2020.

Shanker is Deputy Chief of the Appellate Section of the Criminal Division at the United States Department of Justice, according to his biography carried on the website of the D.C Government’s Judicial Nomination Commission.

A graduate of Duke University, North Carolina, cum laude, in public policy, Shanker has a law degree from the University of Virginia School of Law, where he received the Order of the Coif and was a Notes Editor for the Virginia Law Review.

He has briefed and argued almost sixty federal appeals, including four en banc rehearings, according to the biography.

Shanker, who joined the Justice Department in 2005, is currently serving as Senior Litigation Counsel in the Criminal Division’s Fraud Section, where he investigates and prosecutes violations of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act and related offenses and advises attorneys and leadership on a range of legal issues and litigation matters, the JNC website says.

From October 2012 to February 2014, Shanker served in the Office of the Assistant Attorney General for the Criminal Division, first as Senior Counsel and then as Acting Deputy Chief of Staff and Counselor to the Assistant Attorney General.

Shanker has been awarded the Attorney General’s John Marshall Award, the Assistant Attorney General’s Award for Exceptional Service, and the Assistant Attorney General’s Award for Distinguished Service.

At the Virginia School of Law, Shanker was awarded the Roger & Madeleine Traynor Prize for “the graduate who has produced the best written work” and also the Law School Alumni Association Best Note Award.

Following law school, Shanker clerked for Judge Chester J. Straub on the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit.

President Trump first nominated Shanker back in June 2020.