Hala Yalda Jarbou (born 1971) is the Chief United States district judge of the

United States District Court for the Western District of Michigan The United States District Court for the Western District of Michigan (in case citations, W.D. Mich.) is the federal district court with jurisdiction over of the western portion of the state of Michigan, including the entire Upper Peninsula and t ...

. She is the first Chaldean federal judge.

Education

Jarbou earned her

Bachelor of Business Administration Bachelor of Business Administration (BBA) is a bachelor's degree in business administration awarded by colleges and universities after completion of undergraduate study in the fundamentals of business administration and usually including advanced ...

from the

University of Michigan–Dearborn The University of Michigan–Dearborn (U of M Dearborn, UM–Dearborn, or UMD) is a public university in Dearborn, Michigan. It is one of the two regional universities operating under the policies of the University of Michigan Board of Regents, ...

, with high distinction, and her

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 the

Wayne State University Law School Wayne State University Law School (Wayne Law) is the law school of Wayne State University in Detroit. Wayne Law is located in Midtown, Detroit's Cultural Center. Founded in 1927, the law school offers juris doctor (J.D.), master of laws (LL.M.), ...

Career

After graduating from law school, Jarbou served as an assistant prosecuting attorney in the Oakland County Prosecutor's Office, where she prosecuted general felony offenses, homicides, child sexual assault, and high-profile felony cases. In 2010, she became an

Assistant United States Attorney An assistant United States attorney (AUSA) is an official career civil service position in the U.S. Department of Justice composed of lawyers working under the U.S. Attorney of each U.S. federal judicial district. They represent the federal gove ...

for the

Eastern District of Michigan The United States District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan (in case citations, E.D. Mich.) is the United States district court, federal district court with jurisdiction over of the eastern half of the Lower Peninsula of the State o ...

, where she prosecuted cases involving drug and firearms offenses, child pornography, and high-level drug trafficking. She was an associate professor of the Paralegal Program at

Oakland University Oakland University is a public research university in Auburn Hills and Rochester Hills, Michigan. Founded in 1957 through a donation of Matilda Dodge Wilson, it was initially known as Michigan State University-Oakland, operating under the Mi ...

from April–July 2005.

State judicial service

On October 20, 2015, Jarbou was appointed to the 6th Circuit Court of Michigan by Governor

Rick Snyder Richard Dale Snyder (born August 19, 1958) is an American business executive, venture capitalist, attorney, accountant, and politician who served as the 48th governor of Michigan from 2011 to 2019. A member of the Republican Party, Snyder previ ...

to the vacancy left by Judge Colleen O'Brien, who was appointed to the

Michigan Court of Appeals The Michigan Court of Appeals is the intermediate-level appellate court of the state of Michigan. It was created by the Michigan Constitution of 1963, and commenced operations in 1965. Its opinions are reported both in an official publication of ...

. She was sworn in on January 20, 2016. Her service on the state court terminated when she received her judicial commission as a federal judge.

Federal judicial service

On March 11, 2020, President

Donald Trump Donald John Trump (born June 14, 1946) is an American politician, media personality, and businessman who served as the 45th president of the United States from 2017 to 2021. Trump graduated from the Wharton School of the University of Pe ...

announced his intent to nominate Jarbou to serve as a

United States district judge The United States district courts are the trial courts of the United States federal judiciary, U.S. federal judiciary. There is one district court for each United States federal judicial district, federal judicial district, which each cover o ...

of the

. On March 18, 2020, her nomination was sent to the Senate. President Trump nominated Jarbou to the seat vacated by Judge

Robert Holmes Bell Robert Holmes Bell (April 19, 1944 – June 8, 2023) was an American lawyer and United States district judge of the United States District Court for the Western District of Michigan from 1987 to 2017. Before assuming the role, he worked as an ...

, who assumed

senior status Senior status is a form of semi-retirement for United States federal judges. To qualify, a judge in the Federal judiciary of the United States, federal court system must be at least 65 years old, and the sum of the judge's age and years of servi ...

on January 31, 2017. A hearing on her nomination before the

Senate Judiciary Committee The United States Senate Committee on the Judiciary, informally the Senate Judiciary Committee, is a standing committee of 22 U.S. senators whose role is to oversee the Department of Justice (DOJ), consider executive and judicial nominations, a ...

was held on June 24, 2020. On July 30, 2020, her nomination was reported out of committee by a 18–4 vote. On September 9, 2020, 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 ...

invoked cloture on her nomination by an 80–15 vote. On September 10, 2020, her nomination was confirmed by an 83–15 vote. She received her judicial commission on September 23, 2020. She became chief judge on July 18, 2022.

Memberships

Jarbou is a member of the following: *

State Bar of Michigan The State Bar of Michigan is the governing body for lawyers in the State of Michigan. Membership is mandatory for attorneys who practice law in Michigan. The organization's mission is to aid in promoting improvements in the administration of jus ...

, 1997–present * Michigan Judges Association, 2015–present *

Federal Bar Association The Federal Bar Association (FBA) is the primary voluntary professional organization for private and government lawyers and judges practicing and sitting in federal courts in the United States. Six times a year, The Association prints ''The Fede ...

(Detroit chapter), 2010–present * Oakland County Bar Association, 2015–present *

Federalist Society The Federalist Society for Law and Public Policy Studies (abbreviated as FedSoc) is an American conservative and libertarian legal organization that advocates for a textualist and originalist interpretation of the U.S. Constitution. Headquartered ...

, 2011–present

Personal life

Jarbou was born in 1971 in Tel Keppe (Tel Kaif), Iraq and now resides in West Bloomfield. She is an ethnic Assyrian and belongs to the

Chaldean Catholic , native_name_lang = syc , image = Assyrian Church.png , imagewidth = 200px , alt = , caption = Cathedral of Our Lady of Sorrows Baghdad, Iraq , abbreviation = , type ...

denomination.

References

External links

* * , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Jarbou, Hala Y. 1971 births Living people 20th-century American women lawyers 20th-century American lawyers 21st-century American women lawyers 21st-century American lawyers 21st-century American judges 21st-century American women judges American Chaldeans American prosecutors Assistant United States Attorneys Federalist Society members Judges of the United States District Court for the Western District of Michigan Michigan lawyers Michigan Republicans Michigan state court judges People from Tel Keppe University of Michigan–Dearborn alumni State attorneys United States district court judges appointed by Donald Trump Wayne State University Law School alumni Iraqi emigrants to the United States Chaldean Americans