Obama re-nominates Indian American as federal judge

Indian American Srikanth Srinivasan is among the 33 federal judges re-nominated by the US President Barack Obama for the US Court of Appeals.

Srinivasan is the only Indian American re-nominated by Obama for the District of Columbia Circuit.

"Today, I am re-nominating thirty-three highly qualified candidates for the federal bench, including many who could have and should have been confirmed before the Senate adjourned," Obama said.

"Several have been awaiting a vote for more than six months, even though they all enjoy bipartisan support. I continue to be grateful for their willingness to serve and remain confident that they will apply the law with the utmost impartiality and integrity," he said.

"I urge the Senate to consider and confirm these nominees without delay, so all Americans can have equal and timely access to justice," Obama said in a statement.

Srinivasan was born in Chandigarh, and grew up in Lawrence, Kansas. He received his BA with honours and distinction in 1989 from Stanford University and his JD (Juris Doctor) with distinction in 1995 from Stanford Law School, where he was elected to Order of the Coif and served as an editor of the Stanford Law Review.

He also holds an MBA from the Stanford Graduate School of Business, which he received along with his JD in 1995.

Srinivasan began his legal career by serving as a law clerk for Judge J Harvie Wilkinson on the US Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit from 1995 to 1996.

He then spent a year as a Bristow Fellow in the Office of the Solicitor General before clerking for Justice Sandra Day O'Connor during the Supreme Court's 1997-98 term.

He was an associate at the law firm of O'Melveny & Myers LLP in Washington, DC, from 1998 until 2002. In 2002, he returned to the Solicitor General's Office as an Assistant to the Solicitor General, representing the US in litigation before the Supreme Court.

For his work, he received the Attorney General's Award for Excellence in Furthering US National Security in 2003 and the Office of the Secretary of Defence Award for Excellence in 2005.

In 2007, Srinivasan became a partner with O'Melveny & Myers LLP. In 2011, he was named the Chair of the firm's Appellate Practice Group. He was named as the Principal Deputy Solicitor General in August 2011.

In June this year he was nominated by Obama to serve on the US Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit.