David E. Nahmias (born September 11, 1964) is an American lawyer who served as the chief justice of the Supreme Court of Georgia from 2021 to 2022. He is the former

United States Attorney United States attorneys are officials of the U.S. Department of Justice who serve as the chief federal law enforcement officers in each of the 94 U.S. federal judicial districts. Each U.S. attorney serves as the United States' chief federal c ...

for the

Northern District of Georgia The United States District Court for the Northern District of Georgia (in case citations, N.D. Ga.) is a United States district court which serves the residents of forty-six counties. These are divided up into four divisions. Appeals from cases ...

Background and early career

He attended

Briarcliff High School Briarcliff High School (BHS) is a public secondary school in Briarcliff Manor, New York that serves students in grades 9– 12. It is the only high school in the Briarcliff Manor Union Free School District, sharing its campus with Briarcliff ...

and was the state's STAR student. He attended

Duke University Duke University is a private research university in Durham, North Carolina. Founded by Methodists and Quakers in the present-day city of Trinity in 1838, the school moved to Durham in 1892. In 1924, tobacco and electric power industrialist James ...

, where he graduated first in his class and ''

summa cum laude Latin honors are a system of Latin phrases used in some colleges and universities to indicate the level of distinction with which an academic degree has been earned. The system is primarily used in the United States. It is also used in some Sou ...

'', and

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 ...

, where in 1991 he graduated ''

magna cum laude Latin honors are a system of Latin phrases used in some colleges and universities to indicate the level of distinction with which an academic degree has been earned. The system is primarily used in the United States. It is also used in some So ...

'' and was an editor of the ''

Harvard Law Review The ''Harvard Law Review'' is a law review published by an independent student group at Harvard Law School. According to the ''Journal Citation Reports'', the ''Harvard Law Review''s 2015 impact factor of 4.979 placed the journal first out of 143 ...

'' (along with

President Obama Barack Hussein Obama II ( ; born August 4, 1961) is an American politician who served as the 44th president of the United States from 2009 to 2017. A member of the Democratic Party, Obama was the first African-American president of the ...

Career

He clerked for Judge Laurence H. Silberman of the

U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia The United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit (in case citations, D.C. Cir.) is one of the thirteen United States Courts of Appeals. It has the smallest geographical jurisdiction of any of the U.S. federal appellate co ...

and Justice

Antonin Scalia Antonin Gregory Scalia (; March 11, 1936 – February 13, 2016) was an American jurist who served as an associate justice of the Supreme Court of the United States from 1986 until his death in 2016. He was described as the intellectu ...

of the

U.S. Supreme Court The Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) is the highest court in the federal judiciary of the United States. It has ultimate appellate jurisdiction over all U.S. federal court cases, and over state court cases that involve a point o ...

during the 1992 Term. He worked for law firm of Hogan & Hartson in Washington, D.C. In 1995, Nahmias joined the U.S. Attorney's Office in

Atlanta Atlanta ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Georgia. It is the seat of Fulton County, the most populous county in Georgia, but its territory falls in both Fulton and DeKalb counties. With a population of 498,715 ...

in January. In October 2001, Nahmias was detailed to the

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in Washington to serve as Counsel to the

Assistant Attorney General Many of the divisions and offices of the United States Department of Justice are headed by an assistant attorney general. The president of the United States appoints individuals to the position of assistant attorney general with the advice and ...

. After being nominated by President George W. Bush and confirmed by the

United States Senate The United States Senate is the upper chamber of the United States Congress, with the House of Representatives being the lower chamber. Together they compose the national bicameral legislature of the United States. The composition and pow ...

, on December 1, 2004, Nahmias returned home to Atlanta to take office as the

for the Northern District of Georgia.

Georgia Supreme Court

Nahmias was named to the Supreme Court of Georgia by Governor

Sonny Perdue George Ervin "Sonny" Perdue III (born December 20, 1946) is an American veterinarian, businessman, politician, and university administrator who served as the 31st United States Secretary of Agriculture from 2017 to 2021. He previously served as t ...

on August 13, 2009, to fill the vacancy left by the resignation of

Leah Ward Sears Leah Ward Sears (born June 13, 1955) is an American jurist and former Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Georgia. Sears was the first African-American female chief justice of a state supreme court in the United States. When she was first ap ...

. He took office on September 3, 2009, and won re-election in November 2010. On September 4, 2018, Nahmias was sworn in as Presiding Justice, replacing

Harold Melton Harold David Melton (born September 25, 1966) is a former chief justice of the Supreme Court of Georgia. Early years and education A 1984 graduate of Joseph Wheeler High School in Marietta, Georgia, Melton received a Bachelor of Science from A ...

, who became Chief Justice on the same day. He was sworn in as Chief Justice on July 1, 2021. He resigned on July 17, 2022. In 2020, Nahmias wrote a ruling that authorized a loophole that allowed any Georgia Supreme Court judge who faces a serious re-election challenge to resign and have the Georgia governor appoint a new judge to a full term, thus disincentivizing challenges against incumbents and undermining competitive elections.

References

, - {{DEFAULTSORT:Nahmias, David 1964 births Living people 21st-century American judges Chief Justices of the Supreme Court of Georgia (U.S. state) Duke University alumni Georgia (U.S. state) lawyers Harvard Law School alumni Justices of the Supreme Court of Georgia (U.S. state) Law clerks of the Supreme Court of the United States People associated with Hogan Lovells United States Attorneys for the Northern District of Georgia

Background and early career

Career

Georgia Supreme Court

See also

References