Stephen Alexander Vaden (born May 15, 1982) is a

United States judge A judge is a person who presides over court proceedings, either alone or as a part of a panel of judges. A judge hears all the witnesses and any other evidence presented by the barristers or solicitors of the case, assesses the credibility an ...

of the United States Court of International Trade.

Education

Vaden graduated from Union City High School as the

valedictorian Valedictorian is an academic title for the highest-performing student of a graduating class of an academic institution. The valedictorian is commonly determined by a numerical formula, generally an academic institution's grade point average (GPA ...

of the class of 2,000. He earned a

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 ...

from

Vanderbilt University Vanderbilt University (informally Vandy or VU) is a private research university in Nashville, Tennessee. Founded in 1873, it was named in honor of shipping and rail magnate Cornelius Vanderbilt, who provided the school its initial $1-million ...

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 ...

from

Yale Law School Yale Law School (Yale Law or YLS) is the law school of Yale University, a Private university, private research university in New Haven, Connecticut. It was established in 1824 and has been ranked as the best law school in the United States by ''U ...

Legal career

After graduating from law school, Vaden served as a

law clerk A law clerk or a judicial clerk is a person, generally someone who provides direct counsel and assistance to a lawyer or judge by researching issues and drafting legal opinions for cases before the court. Judicial clerks often play significant ...

to Judge Julia Smith Gibbons of the United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit and to Judge

Samuel H. Mays Jr. Samuel Hardwicke Mays Jr. (born 1948) is a senior United States district judge of the United States District Court for the Western District of Tennessee. Education and career Born in Memphis, Tennessee, Mays received a Bachelor of Arts degree ...

of the United States District Court for the Western District of Tennessee. Vaden has practiced law at

Patton Boggs Squire Patton Boggs is an international law firm with 42 offices in 20 countries. It was formed in 2014 by the merger of multinational law firm Squire Sanders with Washington, D.C. based Patton Boggs. It is one of the 30 largest law firms in the ...

and

Jones Day Jones Day is an American multinational law firm. As of 2021, it was the eighth largest law firm in the U.S. and the 13th highest grossing law firm in the world. Originally headquartered in Cleveland, Ohio, Jones Day ranks first in both M&A le ...

, specializing in appellate litigation, election law, and administrative law.

General Counsel of the Department of Agriculture

Vaden served on the

Trump Administration Donald Trump's tenure as the List of presidents of the United States, 45th president of the United States began with Inauguration of Donald Trump, his inauguration on January 20, 2017, and ended on January 20, 2021. Trump, a Republican Party ...

United States Department of Agriculture The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) is the United States federal executive departments, federal executive department responsible for developing and executing federal laws related to farming, forestry, rural economic development, ...

landing team. He was appointed Principal Deputy General Counsel of the department on March 17, 2017, succeeding Lee Fink. On September 2, 2017, Vaden was nominated to be the General Counsel for the United States Department of Agriculture. He was confirmed by 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 ...

on November 27, 2018 by a 53–46 vote, and was sworn in on December 14, 2018. He left the Department after being commissioned as a Judge of the Court of International Trade.

Trade Court service

On October 2, 2019, President Trump announced his intent to nominate Vaden to the United States Court of International Trade."President Donald J. Trump Announces Judicial Nominees" White House, October 2, 2019
On October 17, 2019, his nomination was sent to the Senate. President Trump nominated Vaden to the seat vacated by Judge

Delissa A. Ridgway Delissa Anne Ridgway (born June 28, 1955) is a senior United States Judge of the United States Court of International Trade. Biography Ridgway was born in 1955 in Kirksville, Missouri. She received a Bachelor of Arts degree in 1975 from the Uni ...

, 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, 2019. A hearing on his nomination before the Senate Judiciary Committee was held on November 13, 2019. On January 3, 2020, his nomination was returned to the President under Rule XXXI, Paragraph 6 of the

. Later that day, he was re-nominated to the same seat. On January 16, 2020, his nomination was reported out of committee by a 12–10 vote. On November 18, 2020, the Senate invoked cloture on his nomination by a 49–44 vote. His nomination was confirmed later that day by a 49–43 vote. He received his judicial commission on December 21, 2020.

References

External links

*
S. Hrg. 115-602 - NOMINATION HEARING: GLEN SMITH, TO BE A MEMBER OF THE FARM CREDIT ADMINISTRATION BOARD, FARM CREDIT UNION, AND STEPHEN ALEXANDER VADEN, TO BE GENERAL COUNSEL OF THE DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE
{{DEFAULTSORT:Vaden, Stephen 1982 births Living people 21st-century American lawyers 21st-century American judges Jones Day people Judges of the United States Court of International Trade Lawyers from Washington, D.C. Lawyers from Memphis, Tennessee Tennessee Republicans Trump administration personnel United States Department of Agriculture officials United States federal judges appointed by Donald Trump Vanderbilt University alumni Yale Law School alumni