David Herndon Coar (born August 11, 1943) is a former
United States district judge of the
United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois.
Education and career
Born in
Birmingham,
Alabama, Coar received a
Bachelor of Arts degree from
Syracuse University
Syracuse University (informally 'Cuse or SU) is a Private university, private research university in Syracuse, New York. Established in 1870 with roots in the Methodist Episcopal Church, the university has been nonsectarian since 1920. Locate ...
in 1964, a
Juris Doctor
The Juris Doctor (J.D. or JD), also known as Doctor of Jurisprudence (J.D., JD, D.Jur., or DJur), is a graduate-entry professional degree in law
and one of several Doctor of Law degrees. The J.D. is the standard degree obtained to practice law ...
from
Loyola University Chicago School of Law in 1969, and a
Master of Laws from
Harvard Law School
Harvard Law School (Harvard Law or HLS) is the law school of Harvard University, a private research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1817, it is the oldest continuously operating law school in the United States.
Each class ...
in 1970. He was a
United States Marine Corps Sergeant in 1965. and United States Marine Corps Reserve Sergeant from 1965 to 1971. He was a Legal intern for the
NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund in
New York City from 1970 to 1971. Coar entered private practice in
Mobile
Mobile may refer to:
Places
* Mobile, Alabama, a U.S. port city
* Mobile County, Alabama
* Mobile, Arizona, a small town near Phoenix, U.S.
* Mobile, Newfoundland and Labrador
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* Mobile ...
, Alabama from 1971 to 1972, then in Birmingham from 1973 to 1974. He was an Associate professor and associate
dean of the
DePaul University College of Law from 1974 to 1979 and from 1982 to 1986. He was a United States Trustee for the Northern District of Illinois from 1979 to 1982. He was a visiting professor of law at the
College of William and Mary,
Marshall-Wythe Law School in 1985 and was the first Black person to teach at the law school. Coar served as a United States Bankruptcy Judge for the Northern District of Illinois from 1986 to 1994.
Federal judicial service
On August 16, 1994, Coar was nominated by President
Bill Clinton to a seat on the
United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois vacated by
Ilana Rovner. Coar was confirmed by the
United States Senate on October 6, 1994, and received his commission on October 7, 1994. He assumed senior status August 12, 2009 and retired December 31, 2010.
Post judicial service
In 2013 he was named to co-lead a commission with
Benjamin K. Miller to draw a path to Bond Court reform for the state of
Illinois. The next year the commission issued a comprehensive report detailing the problems of the system and gave forty recommendations for reform.
See also
*
List of African-American federal judges
*
List of African-American jurists
References
External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Coar, David H.
1943 births
Living people
African-American judges
College of William & Mary faculty
DePaul University faculty
Harvard Law School alumni
Judges of the United States bankruptcy courts
Judges of the United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois
Loyola University Chicago School of Law alumni
Lawyers from Birmingham, Alabama
Military personnel from Birmingham, Alabama
Syracuse University alumni
United States district court judges appointed by Bill Clinton
United States Marines
20th-century American judges
21st-century American judges
United States Marine Corps reservists