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R. Guy Cole
2023 - Present
2
Ransey Guy Cole, Jr. is a federal judge on senior status with the United States Court of Appeals for the 6th Circuit. He first joined the court in 1995 after being nominated by President Bill Clinton (D). From 2014 to 2021, Cole served as the chief judge of the court. Cole assumed senior status on January 9, 2023.[1][2]
Biography
Early life and education
A native of Birmingham, Alabama, Cole graduated from Tufts University with his bachelor's degree in 1972 and from Yale Law School with his J.D. in 1975.[1]
Professional career
- 1995-present: United States Court of Appeals for the 6th Circuit
- 2022-present: Senior judge
- 2014-2021: Chief judge
- 1995-2022: Judge
- 1993-1995: Private practice, Columbus, Ohio
- 1987-1993: Judge, United States bankruptcy court, Southern District of Ohio
- 1980-1986: Private practice, Columbus, Ohio
- 1978-1980: Trial attorney, Civil Division, Commercial Litigation Branch, U.S. Department of Justice
- 1975-1978: Private practice, Columbus, Ohio[1]
Judicial career
Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals
 |
| Nominee Information |
| Name: R. Guy Cole, Jr. |
| Court: United States Court of Appeals for the 6th Circuit |
| Progress |
| Confirmed 176 days after nomination. |
 Nominated: June 29, 1995
|
| ABA Rating: Unanimously Well Qualified
|
| Questionnaire: |
| Hearing: September 28, 1995
|
| QFRs: (Hover over QFRs to read more) |
| Reported: October 26, 1995
|
| Confirmed: December 22, 1995
|
| Vote: Voice vote
|
Cole was nominated by to the United States Court of Appeals for the 6th Circuit by President Bill Clinton on June 29, 1995, to a seat vacated by Judge Nathaniel Jones. The American Bar Association rated Cole Unanimously Well Qualified for the nomination.[3] Hearings on Cole's nomination were held before the United States Senate Committee on the Judiciary on September 28, 1995, and his nomination was reported by U.S. Sen. Orrin Hatch (R-Utah) on October 26, 1995. Cole was confirmed on a voice vote of the U.S. Senate on December 22, 1995, and he received his commission on December 26, 1995. He served as chief judge of the Sixth Circuit from 2014 to 2021.[1][4]
Southern District of Ohio bankruptcy court
Cole began his federal judicial career as a U.S. bankruptcy judge on the United States bankruptcy court, Southern District of Ohio. Cole was nominated by the Sixth Circuit Judicial Conference to a fourteen-year term as a federal bankruptcy judge in 1987. He resigned in 1993.[1]
Noteworthy cases
SCOTUS vacates Sixth Circuit judgment on retiree benefits (2015)
On January 26, 2015, the U.S. Supreme Court vacated the judgment of a three-judge panel of the Sixth Circuit. Judge Guy Cole delivered the opinion of the circuit panel.
A group of retirees sued M&G Polymers under the Labor Relations Management Act (LMRA) and the Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) after M&G announced that it would cap healthcare benefits. The retirees claimed that M&G violated the operative collective bargaining agreement (CBA) language that indicated the company would provide full, lifetime coverage of health benefits, and that the cap was not adopted in the most recent CBA. A federal district court initially dismissed the retirees' claims but, after a remand from the Sixth Circuit, the district court ordered that benefits be reinstated to a post-2007 CBA that included employee contributions. Both sides appealed. A three-judge panel of the Sixth Circuit, in an opinion by Judge Guy Cole, upheld the district court's decision.
Writing for a unanimous U.S. Supreme Court, Justice Clarence Thomas vacated the circuit panel, holding that the Sixth Circuit was wrong to infer that parties to collective bargaining intended for the retirees' benefits to vest for life after the operative CBA expired. Instead, the circuit court should have subjected the determination of benefits to ordinary contract principles.[5][6]
See also
- United States Court of Appeals for the 6th Circuit
- United States bankruptcy court, Southern District of Ohio
External links
Footnotes
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 Federal Judicial Center, "Cole, Ransey Guy, Jr.," accessed May 3, 2021
- ↑ U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit, "Letter to the president," December 10, 2021
- ↑ American Bar Association, "Ratings of Article III judicial nominees, 104th Congress," accessed November 23, 2016
- ↑ United States Congress, "PN488 — R. Guy Cole Jr. — The Judiciary," accessed November 23, 2016
- ↑ Supreme Court of the United States, M&G Polymers USA, LLC v. Tackett, January 26, 2015
- ↑ Oyez.org, "M&G Polymers USA, LLC v. Tackett," accessed October 12, 2017
| Political offices | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by - |
United States Court of Appeals for the 6th Circuit 1995-2023 |
Succeeded by Rachel Bloomekatz |
| |||
|---|---|---|---|
| 1993 |
Adams • Ambrose • Barnes • Brinkema • Bucklew • Chasanow • Coffman • Daughtrey • Ferguson • Ginsburg • Hagen • Jackson • Lancaster • Leval • Lindsay • Messitte • Michael • Piersol • Saris • Schwartz • Seybert • Shanahan • Shaw • Stearns • Trager • Vazquez • Wilken • Wilson | ||
| 1994 |
Baer • Barkett • Batts • Beaty • Benavides • Bennett • Berrigan • Biery • Block • Borman • Breyer • Briones • Bryson • Bucklo • Burgess • Burrage • Cabranes • Calabresi • Carr • Casellas • Castillo • Chatigny • Chin • Cindrich • Coar • Collins • Cooper • Cote • Currie • Davis • Dominguez • Downes • Duval • Friedman • Furgeson • Garcia • Gertner • Gettleman • Gillmor • Gilmore • Gleeson • Haggerty • Hamilton • Hannah • Hawkins • Henry • Holmes • Hood • Hull • Hurley • Jack • Jones • Jones • Kaplan • Katz • Kern • Kessler • Koeltl • Lisi • Manning • McKee • McLaughlin • Melancon • Miles-LaGrange • Moore • Motz • Murphy • O'Malley • O'Meara • Oliver • Paez • B. Parker • F. Parker • R. Parker • Perry • Ponsor • Pooler • Porteous • Rendell • Riley • Robertson • Rogers • Ross • Russell • Sands • Sarokin • Scheindlin • Silver • Squatrito • Stewart • Sullivan • Tatel • Thompson • Timlin • Urbina • Vanaskie • Vance • Walls • Wells • Williams | ||
| 1995 |
Arterton • Atlas • Black • Blake • Briscoe • Tena Campbell • Todd Campbell • Chesney • Cole • Collier • Daniel • Davis • Dennis • Dlott • Donald • Duffy • Economus • Evans • Fallon • Folsom • Gaughan • Goodwin • Heartfield • Hunt • Illston • Jones • King • Kornmann • Lawson • Lenard • Lucero • Lynch • McKinley • Moody • Moore • Moskowitz • Murphy • Murtha • Nugent • O'Toole • Orlofsky • Pogue • Sessions • C. Smith • O. Smith • Stein • Thornburg • Tunheim • Wallach • Wardlaw • Webber • Whaley • Winmill • Wood | ||
| 1996 |
Broadwater • Clevert • Fenner • Gershon • Gottschall • Greenaway • Hinkle • Jones • Kahn • Laughrey • Lemmon • Marten • Miller • Molloy • Montgomery • Pregerson • Rakoff • Sargus • Tashima • Thomas • Zapata | ||
| 1997 |
Adelman • Bataillon • Breyer • Caputo • Casey • Chambers • Clay • Damrell • Droney • Friedman • Gajarsa • Garland • Gilman • Gold • Gwin • Hall • Hayden • Hull • Ishii • Jenkins • Kauffman • Kennedy • Kimball • Kollar-Kotelly • Lazzara • Marbley • Marcus • Middlebrooks • Miller • Moon • Pratt • Rendell • Sippel • Siragusa • Snyder • Thrash | ||
| 1998 |
Aiken • Barbier • Barzilay • Berman • Buttram • Carter • Collins • Dawson • Dimitrouleas • Fletcher • Fogel • Frank • Graber • Hellerstein • Herndon • James • Johnson • Kane • Kelly • G. King • R. King • Lasnik • Lee • Lemelle • Lindsay • Lipez • Manella • Matz • McCuskey • McKeown • McMahon • Mickle • Mollway • Mordue • Moreno • Morrow • Munley • Murphy • Pallmeyer • Pauley • Polster • Pooler • Rawlinson • Ridgway • R. Roberts • V. Roberts • Sack • Scott • Seitz • Seymour • Shea • Silverman • Sleet • Sotomayor • Steeh • Story • Straub • Tagle • Tarnow • Trauger • Traxler • Tyson • Wardlaw • Whelan • Young | ||
| 1999 |
Alsup • Barry • Brown • Buchwald • Cooper • Eaton • Ellison • Feess • Fisher • Gould • Guzman • Haynes • Hibbler • Hochberg • Hurd • Huvelle • Jordan • Katzmann • Kennelly • Linn • Lorenz • Lynn • Marrero • Murguia • Pannell • Pechman • Pepper • Phillips • Schreier • Stewart • Underhill • Ward • Williams • Wilson | ||
| 2000 |
Ambro • Antoon • Battani • Berzon • Bolton • Brady • Bye • Cavanaugh • Daniels • Darrah • Dawson • Dyk • Fuentes • Garaufis • Garcia-Gregory • Hamilton • Huck • Hunt • Lawson • Lefkow • Lynch • Martin • McLaughlin • Moody • Murguia • Paez • Pisano • Presnell • Rawlinson • Reagan • Schiller • Singal • Steele • Surrick • Swain • Tallman • Teilborg • Tucker • Whittemore | ||
