Biden Taps Judge Sunil Harjani To Illinois District Court
Photo: File photo of Sunil Harjani with wife Priya and their two children along with Judge Castillo who had sworn him in as a Federal Magistrate. Photo:@NorthwesternLaw.
India-West Staff Reporter
WASHINGTON, DC – President Joe Biden has announced his intent to nominate Judge Sunil Harjani to a Federal District Court Judge vacancy in the Northern District of Illinois Eastern Division.
Harjani is among six judges across the nation who have been nominated by Biden. “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,” the White House said.
This will be President Biden’s forty-fourth round of nominees for federal judicial positions, bringing the number of announced federal judicial nominees to 215, the White House pointed out.
Judge Sunil R. Harjani has been a United States Magistrate Judge for the Northern District of Illinois since 2019. Judge Harjani previously served as an Assistant U.S. Attorney and Deputy Chief of the Securities and Commodities Fraud Section in the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Illinois from 2008 to 2019.
He also practiced federal civil litigation as a senior counsel at the U.S. Securities & Exchange Commission from 2004 to 2008 and as an associate at Jenner & Block LLP in Chicago from 2000 to 2001 and 2002 to 2004. Judge Harjani served as a law clerk for Judge Suzanne B. Conlon on the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois from 2001 to 2002.
He received his J.D., cum laude, from Northwestern University Pritzker School of Law in 2000 and his B.A. from Northwestern University in 1997.
U.S. Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL), Chair of the Senate Judiciary Committee, and U.S. Senator Tammy Duckworth (D-IL) in a joint statement expressed their support for Harjani’s nomination.
In August 2023, Durbin and Duckworth established a screening committee to review applicants to be a Federal District Court Judge in the Northern District of Illinois Eastern Division. They interviewed the finalists, reviewed their records, and consulted with each other regarding their qualifications.
In November 2023, the Senators sent a letter to the White House recommending six candidates for President Biden’s consideration for current and future vacancies for the Northern District of Illinois Eastern Division, including Judge Harjani.
Once the President submits a nomination to the U.S. Senate, it will be reviewed by the Senate Judiciary Committee, of which Durbin is the Chair, and the nominee will ultimately receive a vote in the Committee. If the nomination is approved by the Judiciary Committee, the nominee will receive a vote by the full Senate.
