US President Joe Biden on Wednesday nominated lawyer Adeel Mangi, who was born in Pakistan, to be a judge on a federal appeals court, marking a first for Muslim Americans, according to The Washington Post.
The Harvard and Oxford-trained attorney would become the first Muslim American to hold the position of judge on a US appellate court if the US Senate confirms Mangi’s nomination.
The attorney was a candidate for the Philadelphia-based US Court of Appeals for the 3rd Circuit. His and seven other nominations for the judiciary were announced together.
Mangi joined the US legal firm Patterson Belknap Webb & Tyler LLP in 2000, following his graduation with an LLM from Harvard legal School. He is currently a partner at the firm. He graduated with honors from the University of Oxford with a first class degree in law and is a member of the Honorable Society of Lincoln’s Inn.
The attorney, who was born in Pakistan, is also on the Alliance of Families for Justice’s Advisory Board.
Adeel Mangi has also collaborated with Muslims for Progressive Values, the Legal Aid Society of New York, and the Muslim Bar Association of New York.
One of the attorney’s greatest litigation successes, according to his legal practice, was winning the biggest jury verdict in Virginia court history in a case involving the theft of trade secrets by a software company. In cases involving the death of a state prisoner, he has also achieved the largest payment ever reached with New York state.
Under President Trump, the attorney aggressively pursued lawsuits pertaining to religious freedom and led the legal defense of the Muslim community.
It’s interesting that the lawyer’s nomination occurs at the same time when Muslim voters are criticizing President Biden for supporting Israel during the Gaza conflict and raising concerns about the rise in Islamophobia.
Furthermore, Biden nominated Zahid N. Quraishi, the first Muslim to a federal district court, two years prior to Mangi’s nomination. The US Senate confirmed Qureshi to serve as a New Jersey judge.
Quraishi, a Pakistani national, was approved by the Senate 83 to 16 to become a federal judge.
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