John James McConnell Jr. (born 1958) is the
Chief United States district judge of the
United States District Court for the District of Rhode Island.
Early life and education
Born in
Providence, Rhode Island
Providence is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Rhode Island. One of the oldest cities in New England, it was founded in 1636 by Roger Williams, a Reformed Baptist theologian and religious exile from the Massachusetts Bay ...
, McConnell earned an
Artium Baccalaureus
Bachelor of arts (BA or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts degree course is generally completed in three or four years ...
in 1980 from
Brown University
Brown University is a private research university in Providence, Rhode Island. Brown is the seventh-oldest institution of higher education in the United States, founded in 1764 as the College in the English Colony of Rhode Island and Providenc ...
and 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 1983 from the
Case Western Reserve University School of Law
Case Western Reserve University School of Law is one of eight schools at Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland, Ohio. It was one of the first schools accredited by the American Bar Association. It is a member of the Association of American ...
.
Career
From 1983 until 1984, McConnell worked as a law clerk to
Rhode Island Supreme Court
The Rhode Island Supreme Court is the court of last resort in the U.S. State of Rhode Island. The Court consists of a Chief Justice and four Associate Justices, all selected by the Governor of Rhode Island from candidates vetted by the Judicial No ...
Associate Justice Donald F. Shea.
From 1984 until 1986, McConnell worked as an attorney with Mandell, Goodman, Famiglietti & Schwartz in Providence.
From 1986 until 1991, he served as an associate at what now is the law firm Motley Rice. From 1991 until 2011, he was a partner and director of the Environmental practice group at
Motley Rice
Motley Rice LLC is an American plaintiffs' litigation firm headquartered in Mount Pleasant, South Carolina.
History
Motley Rice was formed in 2003 by co- founding members Ron Motley and Joe Rice after the breakup of the law firm Ness, Motley, Lo ...
LLC, where he worked with state and local governments, groups, and individuals in cases of personal injury, property damage and economic loss as a result of negligent environmental practices.
McConnell may be most known in his legal career for helping to draft and negotiate a $264 billion, 46-state settlement in the states'
lawsuit against the tobacco industry. From 1997 until 2000, McConnell helped investigate the case, file the complaints, and conducted discovery and motions practice in the case while representing many states through its Attorneys General. McConnell disclosed in his questionnaire upon his nomination to federal district court that he anticipates receiving deferred compensation for his work in the tobacco settlement.
McConnell was active in politics, serving as the treasurer of the Rhode Island Democratic State Committee for fourteen years, chairing
David Cicilline's mayoral campaign from 2003 to 2009, and serving as a member of the Board of Directors of Rhode Island's
Planned Parenthood
The Planned Parenthood Federation of America, Inc. (PPFA), or simply Planned Parenthood, is a nonprofit organization that provides reproductive health care in the United States and globally. It is a tax-exempt corporation under Internal Reve ...
branch for four years.
Federal judicial service
On November 17, 2008, McConnell sent a letter to U.S. Senators
Jack Reed and
Sheldon Whitehouse, expressing his interest in being nominated for the vacancy on the U.S. District Court for the District of Rhode Island that had been created by Judge
Ernest C. Torres
Ernest C. Torres (born 1941) is a former United States district judge of the United States District Court for the District of Rhode Island.
Education and career
Born in New Bedford, Massachusetts, Torres received an Artium Baccalaureus degree f ...
assuming
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 ...
. McConnell interviewed with both of his state's senators in February 2009. In April 2009, McConnell learned that Reed would recommend his name to the White House for the nomination. President Obama formally nominated McConnell to the seat on March 10, 2010. On June 17, 2010, the U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee reported McConnell's nomination out of committee by a 13–6 vote. On May 4, 2011, 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 invoked on his nomination by a 63–33 vote.
His nomination was confirmed later that day by a 50–44 vote. He received his commission on May 6, 2011.
He became Chief Judge on December 1, 2019.
See also
*
Barack Obama judicial appointment controversies
U.S. President Barack Obama nominated over 400 individuals for federal judgeships during his presidency. Of these nominations, Congress confirmed 329 judgeships, 173 during the 111th & 112th Congresses and 156 during the 113th and 114th Congress ...
References
External links
*
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{{DEFAULTSORT:McConnell, John J. Jr.
1958 births
Living people
Brown University alumni
Case Western Reserve University School of Law alumni
Judges of the United States District Court for the District of Rhode Island
Lawyers from Providence, Rhode Island
United States district court judges appointed by Barack Obama
21st-century American judges