Michael Brian Brennan (born 1963) is a

United States circuit judge In the United States, federal judges are judges who serve on courts established under Article Three of the U.S. Constitution. They include the chief justice and the associate justices of the U.S. Supreme Court, the circuit judges of the U.S. Cou ...

of the

United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit The United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit (in case citations, 7th Cir.) is the U.S. federal court with appellate jurisdiction over the courts in the following districts: * Central District of Illinois * Northern District of Il ...

. He was first nominated on August 3, 2017, by 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 ...

, and was re-nominated in 2018. He was confirmed May 10, 2018. He was previously a partner in the

Milwaukee Milwaukee ( ), officially the City of Milwaukee, is both the most populous and most densely populated city in the U.S. state of Wisconsin and the county seat of Milwaukee County. With a population of 577,222 at the 2020 census, Milwaukee is ...

law firm Gass Weber Mullins LLC, and served 8 years as a

Wisconsin Circuit Court The Wisconsin circuit courts are the general trial courts in the state of Wisconsin. There are currently 69 circuits in the state, divided into 10 judicial administrative districts. Circuit court judges hear and decide both civil and criminal case ...

judge.

Early life and education

Brennan received his

Bachelor of Arts 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 ...

degree in government and philosophy, ''cum laude'', from the

University of Notre Dame The University of Notre Dame du Lac, known simply as Notre Dame ( ) or ND, is a private Catholic research university in Notre Dame, Indiana, outside the city of South Bend. French priest Edward Sorin founded the school in 1842. The main campu ...

in 1986, 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

Northwestern University School of Law Northwestern University Pritzker School of Law is the law school of Northwestern University, a private research university. It is located on the university's Chicago campus. Northwestern Law has been ranked among the top 14, or "T14" law scho ...

in 1988, where he served as the coordinating note and comment editor of the ''

Northwestern University Law Review The ''Northwestern University Law Review'' is a law review and student organization at Northwestern University School of Law. The ''Law Review''s primary purpose is to publish a journal of broad legal scholarship. The ''Law Review'' publishes six ...

'' and won the Julius H. Miner Moot Court Competition. Brennan served as a law clerk to Chief Judge

Robert W. Warren Robert Willis Warren (August 30, 1925 – August 20, 1998) was a United States district judge for the Eastern District of Wisconsin. He had previously served as attorney general of Wisconsin and represented Brown and Calumet Counties in the ...

of the

United States District Court for the Eastern District of Wisconsin The United States District Court for the Eastern District of Wisconsin (in case citations, E.D. Wis.) is a federal trial court of limited jurisdiction. The court is under the auspices of the United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit, ...

from 1989 to 1991 and also for Judge

Daniel Anthony Manion Daniel Anthony Manion (born February 1, 1942) is an American lawyer, politician, and jurist serving as a senior United States circuit judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit whose chambers are in South Bend, Indiana. ...

of the

from 1995 to 1997.

Legal career

From 1991 to 1995, Brennan was a litigation associate in the Milwaukee office of

Foley & Lardner Foley & Lardner LLP (often referred to simply as "Foley") is an international law firm founded in 1842. In terms of revenue, it ranked 48th on The American Lawyer's 2022 AmLaw 100 rankings of U.S. law firms, with over $1 billion in gross revenue i ...

LLP. He later became an assistant district attorney in Milwaukee County, where he first-chaired numerous trials. In 1999, Brennan was appointed by Wisconsin Governor

Tommy Thompson Tommy George Thompson (born November 19, 1941) is an American Republican politician who most recently served as interim president of the University of Wisconsin System from 2020 to 2022. A member of the Republican Party, he previously served ...

to serve as a judge of the

Milwaukee County Milwaukee County is located in the U.S. state of Wisconsin. At the 2020 census, the population was 939,489, down from 947,735 in 2010. It is both the most populous and most densely populated county in Wisconsin, and the 45th most populous coun ...

Circuit Court. Taking office in January 2000, he served in this position until November 30, 2008, presiding over almost 300 trials and thousands of motions in criminal and civil cases. During that time, he served as the presiding judge of the civil division of that court. Brennan returned to private practice in 2009 and became a partner at the law firm of Gass Weber Mullins, where he was a trial lawyer in the area of commercial litigation and handled appeals in federal and state courts. He was a partner before being confirmed to the Seventh Circuit. Brennan is a mediator and an AAA certified arbitrator and has published more than 50 articles on federal practice and procedure and criminal sentencing.

Federal judicial service

On August 3, 2017, President

nominated Brennan to serve as a United States Circuit Judge of the

, to the seat vacated by Judge Terence T. Evans, 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 17, 2010. On January 3, 2018, his nomination was returned to the President under Rule XXXI, Paragraph 6 of 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 ...

. Upon the announcement of his nomination, Senator

Tammy Baldwin Tammy Suzanne Green Baldwin (born February 11, 1962) is an American lawyer and politician who has served as the junior United States senator from Wisconsin since 2013. A member of the Democratic Party, she served three terms in the Wisconsin Stat ...

criticized President

Trump Trump most commonly refers to: * Donald Trump (born 1946), 45th president of the United States (2017–2021) * Trump (card games), any playing card given an ad-hoc high rank Trump may also refer to: Businesses and organizations * Donald J. T ...

for bypassing the bipartisan commission composed to vet potential judicial candidates. She withheld her

blue slip Blue slip or blue-slipping refers to two distinct legislative procedures in the United States Congress. In the House of Representatives, it is the rejection slip given to tax and spending bills sent to it by the Senate that did not originate in ...

. However, her Republican counterpart in the Senate, Senator

Ron Johnson Ronald Harold Johnson (born April 8, 1955) is an American accountant, businessman, and politician serving as the senior United States senator from Wisconsin, a seat he has held since 2011. A Republican, Johnson was first elected to the U.S. Se ...

, supported his nomination. On January 5, 2018, President

announced his intent to renominate Brennan to the Seventh Circuit. On January 8, 2018, his renomination was sent to the

Senate A senate is a deliberative assembly, often the upper house or chamber of a bicameral legislature. The name comes from the ancient Roman Senate (Latin: ''Senatus''), so-called as an assembly of the senior (Latin: ''senex'' meaning "the el ...

. On January 24, 2018, a hearing on his nomination was held 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 ...

. On February 15, 2018, his nomination was reported out of the committee by an 11–10 vote. Democrats strongly objected to the vote, noting that Senator

was still withholding her blue slip. On May 9, 2018, the Senate agreed to invoke

cloture Cloture (, also ), closure or, informally, a guillotine, is a motion or process in parliamentary procedure aimed at bringing debate to a quick end. The cloture procedure originated in the French National Assembly, from which the name is taken. ...

on his nomination by a 49–47 vote. Brennan's nomination was confirmed on May 10, 2018, by a 49–46 vote. He received his judicial commission on May 11, 2018.

Affiliations and awards

Brennan is the founder of the

chapter of the

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 ...

. He has served as a member of the Wisconsin Legislative Council's Special Committee on Crimes against Children. Brennan also chaired the Wisconsin Governor's Judicial Selection Advisory Committee. He received a special commendation from the

United States Department of Justice The United States Department of Justice (DOJ), also known as the Justice Department, is a federal executive department of the United States government tasked with the enforcement of federal law and administration of justice in the United State ...

for his service as a member of the National Advisory Committee on Violence Against Women.

Electoral history

, colspan="6" style="text-align:center;background-color: #e9e9e9;", General Election, April 3, 2001 , colspan="6" style="text-align:center;background-color: #e9e9e9;", General Election, April 3, 2007

References

External links

* *
Biography at the Federalist Society
, - {{DEFAULTSORT:Brennan, Michael Brian 1963 births Living people 20th-century American lawyers 21st-century American lawyers 21st-century American judges Judges of the United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit Lawyers from Milwaukee Northwestern University Pritzker School of Law alumni State attorneys United States court of appeals judges appointed by Donald Trump University of Notre Dame alumni Wisconsin state court judges

Early life and education

Legal career

Federal judicial service

Affiliations and awards

Electoral history

See also

References

External links