Leo Sorokin

Nomination Tracker
Nominee Information
	Name: Leo Sorokin
	Court: District of Massachusetts
Progress
	Confirmed 173 days after nomination.
	Nominated: December 19, 2013
	ABA Rating: Unanimously Well Qualified
	Questionnaire: Questionnaire
	Hearing: February 25, 2014
	QFRs: QFRs (Hover over QFRs to read more)
	Reported: March 27, 2014
	Confirmed: June 10, 2014
	Vote: 91-0

Leo T. Sorokin is a federal judge for the United States District Court for the District of Massachusetts. Sorokin was nominated by President Barack Obama on December 19, 2013, to fill a vacancy on the United States District Court for the District of Massachusetts.^[1] The United States Senate confirmed Sorokin on June 10, 2014, on a vote of 91-0.^[2]

Prior to his confirmation to a position as a federal judge, he was a federal magistrate judge for the same court. He was appointed to the court on April 11, 2005. Sorokin was reappointed to another eight-year term that started in April of 2013.^[3]^[4]

Education

Judge Sorokin received his B.A. degree from Yale College in 1983 and his J.D. degree from Columbia Law School, graduating cum laude in 1991.^[4]

Career

2013-Present: Adjunct professor, Boston University School of Law
1997-2005: Assistant federal public defender, Federal Public Defender's Office
1994-1997: Office of the Attorney General, Commonwealth of Massachusetts

1996-1997: Assistant attorney general and opinions coordinator
1994-1996: Assistant attorney general

1992-1994: Associate, Mentz Levin
1991-1992: Law clerk, Honorable Rya Zobel, District of Massachusetts^[4]^[5]

Judicial career

District of Massachusetts

Leo Sorokin was nominated by President Barack Obama on December 19, 2013, to fill a vacancy on the United States District Court for the District of Massachusetts. The vacancy was created when Joseph Tauro took senior status on September 26, 2013. On the nomination:

“	I am honored to put forward these highly qualified candidates for the federal bench... They will be distinguished public servants and valuable additions to the United States District Courts. ^[6]	”
—President Barack Obama, ^[1]

Sorokin was rated Unanimously Well Qualified by the American Bar Association.^[7]

Sorokin's nomination was returned by the Senate on January 3, 2014, and he was renominated on January 6th by President Obama.^[8] He had a hearing before the Senate Judiciary Committee on February 25, 2014.^[9] The committee reported Sorokin to the full Senate on March 27, 2014, by voice vote.^[10] The United States Senate confirmed Sorokin on June 10, 2014, on a vote of 91-0.^[2]

District of Massachusetts magistrate judge

Sorokin is a federal magistrate judge for the United States District Court for the District of Massachusetts. He works in the district's Boston office, and was first appointed to the court on April 11, 2005.^[4]

Notable Cases

Judge stops part of a Boston ordinance limiting homesharing in the city

On May 3, 2019, Judge Leo Sorokin blocked parts of an ordinance the Boston city council passed regulating short-term residence rentals. In a ruling on a lawsuit that homesharing company Airbnb filed against the City of Boston, Sorokin said the city cannot oust the company's services in the city as retribution for Airbnb not removing listings from its website that violated the city ordinance. The ordinance stated that investors and tenants cannot rent out homes by the night, but that homeowners could.^[11]^[12]

Sorokin also ruled that Boston could not require homesharing services to tell the city how many days each month a rental home is occupied. He wrote, “Airbnb would be irreparably harmed by having to comply with an unconstitutional requirement that it disclose private business information.”^[11]

Steven Howitt case (2011)

See also: United States District Court for the District of Massachusetts (Gary M. Jones and Steven S. Howitt, v. Vito Scotti et al., 08-10583-LTS)

Judge Sorokin threw out a federal lawsuit filed by State Representative Steven Howitt against former Police Chief Vito Scotti. The lawsuit alleged that Scotti was liable for damages and harm caused to Howitt's career as a result of what Howitt claims was a personally and politically motivated police internal affairs investigation. Judge Sorokin threw out the case saying that because internal affairs investigations are not prosecutions Howitt could not claim malicious prosecution and could also not seek defamation claims because statements made to police during investigations are protected from such claims.^[13]

Awards and associations

Awards

2009: Citation for Judicial Excellence, Boston Bar Association
1989-1990: Kent Scholar, Columbia Law School
1988-1989, 1990-1991: Stone Scholar, Columbia Law School

Associations

2013-Present: United States District Court Reentry Committee
2013: Selection Committee for Clerk of Court, United States District Court for the District of Massachusetts
2012-Present: United States District Court Committee on Court Security
2012-Present: United States District Court Committee on Information Technology
2011-Present: Federal Courts Law Review, At-Large Editor, Federal Magistrate Judges Association
2010: Selection Committee for Chief United States Probation Officer, United States District Court for the District of Massachusetts
2009-Present: United States District Court Criminal Justice Act Plan Committee
2008-Present: Brookline High School Parent Teach Organization
2006-Present: District Court Magistrate Judge Liaison, Criminal Justice Act Board
2004-2005: Criminal Law Section Steering Committee, Boston Bar Association
2003-Present: Brookline Recreation League Youth Soccer
2003-2004: Criminal Justice Act Panel Advisory Committee
2000-Present: Pierce School Parent Teach Organization
2000-2008: Board member, Teachers as Scholars
1996-2005: Board member, Center for First Amendment Rights, Inc.
1984-1988: Board member, Tennis en France, Inc.
Federal Bar Association
Massachusetts Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers
National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers^[5]