Andrew Stephen Oldham (born 1978)United States Senate Committee on the Judiciary: Questionnaire for Judicial Nominees: Andrew Oldham
/ref> is a United States circuit judge of the

United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit The United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit (in case citations, 5th Cir.) is a federal court with appellate jurisdiction over the district courts in the following federal judicial districts: * Eastern District of Louisiana * ...

and former General Counsel to Texas Governor

Greg Abbott Gregory Wayne Abbott (born November 13, 1957) is an American politician, attorney, and former jurist serving as the 48th governor of Texas since 2015. A member of the Republican Party, he served as the 50th attorney general of Texas from 2002 ...

Education

Oldham graduated from the

University of Virginia The University of Virginia (UVA) is a public research university in Charlottesville, Virginia. Founded in 1819 by Thomas Jefferson, the university is ranked among the top academic institutions in the United States, with highly selective ad ...

in 2001 with 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 yea ...

with highest honors. He then studied at the

University of Cambridge , mottoeng = Literal: From here, light and sacred draughts. Non literal: From this place, we gain enlightenment and precious knowledge. , established = , other_name = The Chancellor, Masters and Schola ...

on a Harry S. Truman Scholarship, receiving a

Master of Philosophy The Master of Philosophy (MPhil; Latin ' or ') is a postgraduate degree. In the United States, an MPhil typically includes a taught portion and a significant research portion, during which a thesis project is conducted under supervision. An MPhil ...

with distinction in 2002. He then attended

Harvard Law School Harvard Law School (Harvard Law or HLS) is the law school of Harvard University, a private research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1817, it is the oldest continuously operating law school in the United States. Each c ...

, where he was an editor of the '' Harvard Journal of Law and Public Policy'' and a semi-finalist in the

Ames Moot Court Competition The Ames Moot Court Competition is the annual upper level moot court competition at Harvard Law School. It is designed and administered by the HLS Board of Student Advisers and has been in existence since 1911, when it was founded by a bequest in h ...

. He graduated in 2005 with 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 l ...

magna cum laude Latin honors are a system of Latin phrases used in some colleges and universities to indicate the level of distinction with which an academic degree has been earned. The system is primarily used in the United States. It is also used in some Sou ...

''.

Career

After law school, Oldham 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

David B. Sentelle David Bryan Sentelle (born February 12, 1943) is a Senior United States circuit judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit. Early life, family and education David Sentelle was born in Canton, North Carolina. ...

of the

U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit The United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit (in case citations, D.C. Cir.) is one of the thirteen United States Courts of Appeals. It has the smallest geographical jurisdiction of any of the U.S. federal appellate cou ...

from 2005 to 2006. He worked as an attorney-adviser in the U.S. Department of Justice's

Office of Legal Counsel The Office of Legal Counsel (OLC) is an office in the United States Department of Justice that assists the Attorney General's position as legal adviser to the President and all executive branch agencies. It drafts legal opinions of the Attorney ...

from 2006 to 2008, as part of President George W. Bush's administration. He then clerked for justice

Samuel Alito Samuel Anthony Alito Jr. ( ; born April 1, 1950) is an American lawyer and jurist who serves as an associate justice of the Supreme Court of the United States. He was nominated by President George W. Bush on October 31, 2005, and has serve ...

of the U.S. Supreme Court from 2008 to 2009, where he was a co-clerk with Michael H. Park.Ryan, Tim
"Trump Nominates Nine for Judicial Seats, Including Four Appellate Slots"
Courthouse News Service (

Pasadena, California Pasadena ( ) is a city in Los Angeles County, California, northeast of downtown Los Angeles. It is the most populous city and the primary cultural center of the San Gabriel Valley. Old Pasadena is the city's original commercial district. ...

), February 12, 2018. Oldham entered private practice at the law firm

Kellogg, Hansen, Todd, Figel & Frederick Kellogg, Hansen, Todd, Figel & Frederick PLLC is an American law firm based in Washington, DC. The "uber-elite, D.C.-based litigation boutique" was founded in 1993 by three former Harvard Law School classmates, Michael K. Kellogg, Peter W. Huber ...

in Washington, D.C. His practice focused on appellate litigation in federal courts of appeals throughout the country. Prior to that he served in the Office of the Solicitor General of Texas as Deputy Solicitor General, where he represented Texas in federal courts across the country. In 2015, Oldham wrote an

amicus curiae An ''amicus curiae'' (; ) is an individual or organization who is not a party to a legal case, but who is permitted to assist a court by offering information, expertise, or insight that has a bearing on the issues in the case. The decision o ...

brief in support of Abbott's successful challenge of President

Barack Obama Barack Hussein Obama II ( ; born August 4, 1961) is an American politician who served as the 44th president of the United States from 2009 to 2017. A member of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party, Obama was the first Af ...

Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, colloquially referred to as DACA, is a United States immigration policy that allows some individuals with unlawful presence in the United States after being brought to the country as children to receive ...

executive order. Prior to becoming a judge, he served as general counsel to governor

, where he advised the governor on a range of issues under federal and state law and managed litigation in which the Governor is an interested party. Abbott appointed Oldham as general counsel to replace Jimmy Blacklock, who left to take a seat on the Supreme Court of Texas. Oldham has been an

adjunct professor An adjunct professor is a type of academic appointment in higher education who does not work at the establishment full-time. The terms of this appointment and the job security of the tenure vary in different parts of the world, however the genera ...

at the

University of Texas School of Law The University of Texas School of Law (Texas Law) is the law school of the University of Texas at Austin. Texas Law is consistently ranked as one of the top law schools in the United States and is highly selective—registering the 8th lowest ac ...

since 2019. He has been a member 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. Headquarter ...

since 2002.

Federal judicial service

On February 12, 2018, 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 P ...

announced his intent to nominate Oldham to an undetermined seat on the

. On February 15, 2018, his nomination was sent to the Senate. President Trump nominated Oldham to the seat vacated by Judge Edward C. Prado, who had become the

United States Ambassador to Argentina The United States ambassador to Argentina is the official representative of the president of the United States to the head of state of Argentina. Argentina had declared its independence from Spain in 1816 and there followed a series of revolution ...

.Platoff, Emma
"Trump to nominate Abbott adviser Oldham to the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals"

Texas Tribune ''The Texas Tribune'' is a news website headquartered in Austin, Texas. It aims to promote civic engagement through original, explanatory journalism and public events. Its website and content in various delivery platforms serve as an alternati ...

, February 12, 2018. On April 25, 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 ...

. On May 24, 2018, his nomination was reported out of the Senate Judiciary Committee by an 11–10 vote. On July 17, 2018, 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 po ...

voted 50–49 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. On July 18, 2018, his nomination was confirmed by a 50–49 vote. He received his judicial commission on July 19, 2018.

References

External links

*
Appearances at the U.S. Supreme Court
from the

Oyez Project The Oyez Project at the Illinois Institute of Technology's Chicago-Kent College of Law is an unofficial online multimedia archive of the Supreme Court of the United States, especially audio of oral arguments. The website "aims to be a complete ...

* , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Oldham, Andrew 1978 births Living people 21st-century American lawyers 21st-century American judges Alumni of the University of Cambridge Federalist Society members Harvard Law School alumni Judges of the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit Law clerks of the Supreme Court of the United States Lawyers from Richmond, Virginia Lawyers from Washington, D.C. Texas lawyers United States court of appeals judges appointed by Donald Trump United States Department of Justice lawyers University of Texas School of Law faculty University of Virginia alumni

Education

Career

Federal judicial service

See also

References

External links