Kenneth Davis Bell Sr. (born July 22, 1958) is a United States district judge of the

United States District Court for the Western District of North Carolina The United States District Court for the Western District of North Carolina (in case citations, W.D.N.C.) is a federal district court which covers the western third of North Carolina. Appeals from the Western District of North Carolina are take ...

Early life

Bell earned his Bachelor of Arts from Wake Forest University and his

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

Wake Forest University School of Law The Wake Forest University School of Law is one of the professional graduate schools of Wake Forest University. Located in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, Wake Forest University School of Law is a private American Bar Association (ABA) accredited ...

. In

1990 File:1990 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The 1990 FIFA World Cup is played in Italy; The Human Genome Project is launched; Voyager I takes the famous Pale Blue Dot image- speaking on the fragility of Humankind, humanity on Earth, Astroph ...

, he unsuccessfully ran for

North Carolina's 5th congressional district North Carolina's 5th congressional district covers the central western portion of North Carolina from the Appalachian Mountains to the Metrolina western suburbs. the district borders Tennessee, Virginia and South Carolina While the bulk of its ...

as a Republican.

Legal career

In the

Western District of North Carolina The United States District Court for the Western District of North Carolina (in case citations, W.D.N.C.) is a federal district court which covers the western third of North Carolina. Appeals from the Western District of North Carolina are ta ...

, Bell served as 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 eight years and then as First Assistant U.S. Attorney for ten years. In 2003, he received the Department of Justice's John Marshall Award for prosecuting the first conviction of material support to a terrorist organization, which was by a

Hezbollah Hezbollah (; ar, حزب الله ', , also transliterated Hizbullah or Hizballah, among others) is a Lebanese Shia Islamist political party and militant group, led by its Secretary-General Hassan Nasrallah since 1992. Hezbollah's parami ...

cell. He later was a partner at

Hunton & Williams Hunton Andrews Kurth LLP is an American law firm created by the merger of Hunton & Williams LLP and Andrews Kurth Kenyon LLP on April 2, 2018. The firm has offices in 20 cities, primarily in the United States. History Hunton & Williams (formerl ...

and Mayer Brown. From 2003 to 2019 he was a partner at

McGuireWoods McGuireWoods LLP is a US-based international law firm. Their largest offices are in Richmond, Virginia, Charlotte, North Carolina and Chicago, Illinois. History 1800s–1960s McGuireWoods traces its origins to two lawyers, Egbert R. Watson and ...

Federal judicial service

On April 10, 2018, President Donald Trump announced his intent to nominate Bell to serve as a United States District Judge of the

. On April 12, 2018, his nomination was sent to the Senate. He was nominated to the seat vacated by Judge

Richard Lesley Voorhees Richard Lesley Voorhees (born June 5, 1941) is a Senior status, senior United States federal judge, United States district judge of the United States District Court for the Western District of North Carolina. Education and career Born in Syracu ...

, who assumed senior status on August 31, 2017. On August 22, 2018, a hearing on his nomination was held before the Senate Judiciary Committee. On October 11, 2018, his nomination was reported out of committee by an 11–10 vote. On January 3, 2019, his nomination was returned to the President under Rule XXXI, Paragraph 6 of the United States Senate. On January 23, 2019, President Trump announced his intent to renominate Bell for a federal judgeship. His nomination was sent to the Senate later that day. On February 7, 2019, his nomination was reported out of committee by a 12–10 vote. On May 21, 2019, the Senate invoked cloture on his nomination by a 56–42 vote. On May 22, 2019, his nomination was confirmed by a 55–43 vote. He received his judicial commission on June 12, 2019.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Bell, Kenneth Davis Sr. Living people 1958 births 20th-century American lawyers 20th-century American politicians 21st-century American judges 21st-century American lawyers Assistant United States Attorneys Candidates in the 1990 United States elections Judges of the United States District Court for the Western District of North Carolina North Carolina lawyers North Carolina Republicans People from Bedford, Ohio United States district court judges appointed by Donald Trump Wake Forest University alumni Wake Forest University School of Law alumni McGuireWoods people People associated with Mayer Brown