Donald Cecil Coggins Jr. (born July 17, 1959) is a United States district judge of the

United States District Court for the District of South Carolina The United States District Court for the District of South Carolina (in case citations, D.S.C.) is the federal district court whose jurisdiction is the state of South Carolina. Court is held in the cities of Aiken, Anderson, Beaufort, Charlest ...

Biography

Coggins was born in Spartanburg, South Carolina, on July 17, 1959. He received a Bachelor of Arts degree in 1981 from Clemson University. He received 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 ...

in 1984 from the University of South Carolina School of Law. He began his legal career as an associate at the

law firm A law firm is a business entity formed by one or more lawyers to engage in the practice of law. The primary service rendered by a law firm is to advise clients (individuals or corporations) about their legal rights and responsibilities, and to r ...

of Cummings and Smith, where he was employed from 1984 to 1986. He became a named partner at the successor firms of Cummings, Smith and Coggins from 1986 to 1993 and Smith and Coggins from 1993 to 2000. From 2000 to 2017, he was a shareholder at the law firm of Harrison, White, Smith & Coggins, P.C. (formerly Harrison, White, Smith, Hayes & Coggins, P.C.), where his practice focused on civil litigation. From 2010 to 2013, he was the firm's managing shareholder. Coggins also served as a member of the South Carolina Commission on Lawyer Conduct, a position he held from 2003 to 2017.

Federal judicial service

Expired nomination to district court under Obama

On February 25, 2016, President Obama nominated Coggins to serve as a United States District Judge of the

, to the seat vacated by Judge

Joseph F. Anderson Joseph Fletcher Anderson Jr. (born November 16, 1949) is a Senior United States district judge of the United States District Court for the District of South Carolina. Education and career Anderson was born in Augusta, Georgia. He received a ...

, who assumed senior status on November 16, 2014. On June 21, 2016, a hearing before the Senate Judiciary Committee was held on his nomination. On July 14, 2016, his nomination was reported out of committee by a voice vote. His nomination expired on January 3, 2017, with the end of the

114th Congress The 114th United States Congress was a meeting of the legislative branch of the United States of America federal government, composed of the United States Senate and the United States House of Representatives. It met in Washington, D.C. from Ja ...

Renomination to district court under Trump

On August 3, 2017, President Donald Trump renominated Coggins to the same seat. On September 14, 2017, his nomination was reported out of committee by a voice vote. On November 16, 2017, the United States Senate invoked cloture on his nomination by a 96–1 vote. His nomination was confirmed later that day by a 96–0 vote. He received his judicial commission on November 20, 2017.

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