Sharad Desai

District of Arizona
	Ninth Circuit
Judgeships
	Posts: 13
	Judges: 13
	Vacancies: 0
Judges
	Chief: Jennifer Zipps
	Active judges: Susan Brnovich, Sharad Desai, John Hinderaker, Diane Humetewa, Krissa Lanham, Dominic Lanza, Michael Liburdi, Steven Logan, Rosemary Marquez, Angela Martinez, Scott Rash, John Tuchi, Jennifer Zipps; Senior judges:; Susan Bolton, David Bury, David G. Campbell, Raner Collins, Cindy Jorgenson, Frederick Martone, Stephen McNamee, Douglas Rayes, Roslyn Silver, G. Murray Snow, James A. Soto, James Teilborg, Neil Wake, Frank Zapata

Nomination Tracker
Nominee Information
	Name: Sharad Desai
	Court: United States District Court for the District of Arizona
Progress
	Confirmed 73 days after nomination.
	Nominated: September 9, 2024
	ABA Rating: Qualified
	Questionnaire: Questionnaire
	Hearing: September 25, 2024
	Hearing Transcript: Hearing Transcript
	QFRs: (Hover over QFRs to read more)
	Reported: November 14, 2024
	Confirmed: November 21, 2024
	Vote: 82-12

Sharad Desai is a judge on the United States District Court for the District of Arizona. He was nominated to the court by President Joe Biden (D) on September 9, 2024, and confirmed by the United States Senate on November 21, 2024, by a vote of 82-12.^[1]^[2]^[3]^[4] Desai was one of 235 Article III judges nominated by President Joe Biden (D) and confirmed by the U.S. Senate. To see a full list of judges appointed by Joe Biden, click here.

The United States District Court for the District of Arizona is one of 94 U.S. District Courts. They are the general trial courts of the United States federal courts. To learn more about the court, click here.

Prior to joining the court, Desai was vice president and general counsel for Honeywell International’s Integrated Supply Chain and Information Technology divisions in Phoenix, Arizona.^[3]

Judicial nominations and appointments

United States District Court for the District of Arizona (2025-present)

See also: Federal judges nominated by Joe Biden

On September 9, 2024, President Joe Biden (D) nominated Desai to the United States District Court for the District of Arizona.^[4] Desai received commission on January 7, 2025.^[1] To read more about the federal nominations process, click here.

Confirmation vote

The U.S. Senate confirmed Desai by a vote of 82-12 on November 21, 2024.^[2] To see a full breakdown of the vote on the official U.S. Senate website, click here.

Desai confirmation vote (November 21, 2024)
Party	Yea	Nay	No vote
Democratic	46	0	1
Republican	32	12	5
Independent	4	0	0
Total	82^[5]	12	6

Senate Judiciary Committee hearing

The Senate Judiciary Committee held hearings on Desai's nomination on September 25, 2024. The committee voted to advance Desai's nomination to the full Senate on November 14, 2024.^[2] Click here for a list of other nominees awaiting a committee vote.

Nomination

On August 28, 2024, President Joe Biden (D) announced his intent to nominate Desai to the United States District Court for the District of Arizona. The president officially nominated Desai on September 9, 2024.

Desai was nominated to replace Judge G. Murray Snow, who will assume senior status upon Desai's commission.^[4]

The American Bar Association (ABA) rated Desai qualified.^[6] To read more about ABA ratings, click here.

Biography

Early life and education

Desai was born in 1981, in Phoenix, Arizona. He earned a bachelor's degree from the University of Arizona in 2003, and a law degree from New York University School of Law in 2006.^[1]

Professional career

2025-present: Judge, United States District Court for the District of Arizona
2015-2024: Honeywell International, Inc.
- 2023-2024: Vice president and general counsel, Integrated Supply Chain, Information Technology, and Global Operations
- 2021-2023: Vice president and general counsel, Aerospace Integrated Supply Chain
- 2019-2021: Vice president and general counsel, Aerospace Electronic Solutions
- 2018-2019: Chief litigation counsel, Safety and Productivity Solutions
- 2015-2018: Litigation counsel, Aerospace
2007-2015: Private practice, Phoenix, Arizona
2006-2007: Law clerk, Hon. Rebecca White Berch, Arizona Supreme Court^[1]

About the court

The United States District Court for the District of Arizona is one of 94 United States district courts. Cases are heard in Phoenix, Tucson, Flagstaff, Yuma, and Prescott. When decisions of the court are appealed, they are appealed to the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit, based in downtown San Francisco at the James R. Browning Federal Courthouse. Initial appeals are heard at the Richard Chambers Federal Courthouse in Pasadena, California. The jurisdiction of the District of Arizona consists of all the counties in the state of Arizona. Court is held in the cities of Phoenix, Tucson, Flagstaff, Yuma, and Prescott.

The District of Arizona has original jurisdiction over cases filed within its jurisdiction. These cases can include civil and criminal matters that fall under federal law.

To read opinions published by this court, click here.

The federal nomination process

Federal judges are nominated by the president of the United States and confirmed by the Senate. There are multiple steps to the process:

The president nominates an individual for a judicial seat.
The nominee fills out a questionnaire and is reviewed by the Senate Judiciary Committee.
The Senate Judiciary Committee holds a hearing with the nominee, questioning them about things like their judicial philosophy, past rulings or opinions, etc.

As part of this process, the committee sends a blue slip to senators from the home state in which the judicial nomination was received, allowing them to express their approval or disapproval of the nominee.

After the hearing, the Senate Judiciary Committee will vote to approve or return the nominee.

If approved, the nominee is voted on by the full Senate.
If the Committee votes to return the nominee to the president, the president has the opportunity to re-nominate the individual.

The Senate holds a vote on the candidate.

If the Senate confirms the nomination, the nominee receives a commission to serve a lifelong position as a federal judge.
If the Senate does not confirm the nomination, that nominee does not become a judge.