Sunil Harjani
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2024 - Present
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Sunil Harjani is a judge on the United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois. He was nominated to the court by President Joe Biden (D) on February 1, 2024, and confirmed by the United States Senate on March 12, 2024, by a vote of 53-46.[1][2] Harjani 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 Northern District of Illinois 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, Harjani was a federal magistrate judge for the United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois.[3]
Judicial nominations and appointments
United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois (2024-present)
- See also: Federal judges nominated by Joe Biden
On February 1, 2024, President Joe Biden (D) nominated Harjani to the United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois. He was confirmed by a 51-47 vote of the U.S. Senate on March 12, 2024.[1] Harjani received commission on March 20, 2024.[2] To read more about the federal nominations process, click here.
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| Nominee Information |
| Name: Sunil Harjani |
| Court: United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois |
| Progress |
| Confirmed 40 days after nomination. |
 Nominated: February 1, 2024
|
| ABA Rating: Well qualified
|
| Questionnaire: Questionnaire |
| Hearing: February 8, 2024
|
| Hearing Transcript: Hearing Transcript |
| QFRs: (Hover over QFRs to read more) |
| Reported: March 7, 2024
|
| Confirmed: March 12, 2024
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| Vote: 53-46
|
Confirmation vote
The U.S. Senate confirmed Harjani by a vote of 53-46 on March 12, 2024.[1] To see a full breakdown of the vote on the official U.S. Senate website, click here.
| Harjani confirmation vote (March 12, 2024) | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Yea | Nay | No vote | ||||||
 Democratic |
47 | 0 | 1 | ||||||
 Republican |
3 | 46 | 0 | ||||||
 Independent |
3 | 0 | 0 | ||||||
| Total | 53[4] | 46 | 1 | ||||||
Senate Judiciary Committee hearing
The Senate Judiciary Committee held hearings on Harjani's nomination on February 8, 2024. Harjani was reported to the full Senate on March 7, 2024, after a 12-9 committee vote.[5]
Nomination
On January 10, 2024, President Joe Biden (D) announced his intent to nominate Sunil Harjani to the United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois. The president officially nominated Harjani on February 1, 2024.[1] Click here for a list of other nominees who have been nominated by President Joe Biden.
The American Bar Association (ABA) rated Harjani well qualified.[6] To read more about ABA ratings, click here.
Harjani was nominated to replace Judge Thomas M. Durkin, who assumed senior status on December 26, 2023.[7]
Biography
Education
Harjani earned a bachelor's degree from Northwestern University in 1997 and a law degree from Northwestern University Pritzker School of Law in 2000.[3]
Professional career
- 2024-present: Judge, United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois
- 2019-2024: Magistrate judge, United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois
- 2008-2019: Assistant U.S. attorney and deputy chief of the Securities and Commodities Fraud Section in the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Illinois
- 2004-2008: Senior counsel at the U.S. Securities & Exchange Commission
- 2000-2001 and 2002-2004: Associate
- 2001-2002: Law clerk for Judge Suzanne B. Conlon on the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois[3]
About the court
| Northern District of Illinois |
|---|
| Seventh Circuit |
|
| Judgeships |
| Posts: 23 |
| Judges: 23 |
| Vacancies: 0 |
| Judges |
| Chief: Virginia Kendall |
| Active judges: Georgia Alexakis, Jorge L. Alonso, John Robert Blakey, Edmond E. Chang, Sharon Coleman, Jeffrey Cummings, Jeremy Daniel, Robert Dow, Sara Lee Ellis, Sunil Harjani, LaShonda A. Hunt, Lindsay Jenkins, Iain David Johnston, Virginia Kendall, John Kness, Martha Pacold, April Perry, Mary Rowland, Steven Seeger, Manish Shah, John Tharp Jr., Franklin Ulyses Valderrama, Andrea R. Wood Senior judges: |
The United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois is one of 94 United States district courts. The district operates out of Chicago and Rockford, Illinois. When decisions of the court are appealed, they are appealed to the United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit located in the same courthouse as the Northern District of Illinois in Chicago.
The Northern District of Illinois has original jurisdiction over cases filed within its jurisdiction. These cases can include civil and criminal matters that fall under federal law.
There are two court divisions, each covering the following counties:
The Eastern Division, covering Cook, DuPage, Grundy, Kane, Kendall, Lake County, LaSalle, and Will counties
The Western Division, covering Boone, Carroll, DeKalb, Jo Daviess, Lee, McHenry, Ogle, Stephenson, Whiteside, and Winnebago counties
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.
See also
- United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois
- United States Court of Appeals for the 7th Circuit
External links
- Search Google News for this topic
- United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois
- United States Court of Appeals for the 7th Circuit
- Biography from the Federal Judicial Center
Footnotes
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 Congress.gov, "PN1404 — Sunil R. Harjani — The Judiciary," accessed February 5, 2024
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 The Federal Judicial Center, "Harjani, Sunil Ramesh," accessed March 12, 2024
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 The White House, "President Biden Names Forty-Fourth Round of Judicial Nominees," accessed January 10, 2024
- ↑ Note: The bolded number reflects the largest number.
- ↑ Senate Judiciary Committee, "Executive Business Meeting," accessed March 7, 2024
- ↑ American Bar Association, "STANDING COMMITTEE ON THE FEDERAL JUDICIARY," accessed March 5, 2024
- ↑ United States Courts, "Current Judicial Vacancies," accessed December 26, 2023
| Political offices | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by Thomas M. Durkin |
United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois 2024-Present |
Succeeded by - |
| Preceded by - |
United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois 2019-2024 |
Succeeded by - |
| |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Commissioned in 2025 | |||
| Commissioned in 2024 |
John Kazen • John Russell • Margaret Garnett • Cristal Brisco • Jacquelyn Austin • Gretchen Hess Lund • Micah Smith • Joshua Kolar • Karoline Mehalchick • Kirk Sherriff • Lisa Wang • David Leibowitz • Jacqueline Becerra • Julie Sneed • Melissa Damian • Kelly H. Rankin • Nicole Berner • Sunil Harjani • Leon Schydlower • Ernesto Gonzalez • Susan Bazis • Robert White • Ann Marie McIff Allen • Eumi Lee • Krissa Lanham • Eric Schulte • Camela Theeler • Angela Martinez • Jasmine Yoon • Nancy Maldonado • Meredith Vacca • Georgia Alexakis • Joseph Saporito • Amy Baggio • Stacey Neumann • Mary Kay Lanthier • Adam Abelson • Laura Provinzino • Mary Kay Costello • Dena Coggins • Kevin Ritz • Shanlyn A. S. Park • Byron Conway • Jeannette Vargas • Michelle Williams Court • Jonathan E. Hawley • April Perry • Mustafa Kasubhai • Sarah Russell • Amir Ali • Rebecca Pennell • Anthony Brindisi • Elizabeth Coombe • Cynthia Valenzuela • Anne Hwang • Brian Murphy • Noël Wise • Sanket Bulsara • Tiffany Johnson • Sparkle Sooknanan • Gail Weilheimer • Embry Kidd • Melissa DuBose • Sharad Desai • Serena R. Murillo • Benjamin Cheeks • Sarah Davenport | ||
| Commissioned in 2023 | Kai Scott • Tamika Montgomery-Reeves • Margaret R. Guzman • Daniel Calabretta • Matthew Garcia • DeAndrea G. Benjamin • Cindy Chung • Adrienne Nelson • Lindsay Jenkins • Gina Méndez-Miró • Araceli Martínez-Olguín • Jamar Walker • Ana Reyes • Jamal Whitehead • Gordon Gallagher • Matthew Brookman• Maria Araujo Kahn• James Simmons • Robert Ballou• Andrew Schopler • Jonathan Grey• Colleen Lawless • Arun Subramanian • Jessica Clarke • Robert Kirsch • Michael Farbiarz • Anthony Johnstone • Orelia Merchant • Wesley Hsu • Bradley Garcia • LaShonda A. Hunt • Nancy Gbana Abudu • Amanda Brailsford • Darrel Papillion • Jeremy Daniel • Hernan D. Vera • Julie Rikelman • Nusrat Choudhury • P. Casey Pitts • Myong Joun • Kymberly Evanson • Tiffany Cartwright • Rachel Bloomekatz • Natasha Merle • Dale Ho • Philip Hadji • Rita Lin • Brendan Hurson • Vernon D. Oliver • Matthew Maddox • Julia Munley • Brandy McMillion • Susan DeClercq • Julia Kobick • Ramon Reyes, Jr. • Ana de Alba • Kenly Kiya Kato • Mónica Ramírez Almadani • Jeffrey M. Bryan • Jamel Semper • Irma Ramirez • Richard Federico • Loren AliKhan • Brandon Long • Jerry Edwards Jr.• Sara Hill • Joseph Laroski | ||
| Commissioned in 2022 |
David Herrera Urias • Gabriel Sanchez • Holly Thomas • Maame Ewusi-Mensah Frimpong • David Ruiz • Charles Fleming • Bridget Brennan • Leonard Stark • Alison J. Nathan • John Chun • Julie Rubin • Jacqueline Scott Corley • Ruth Bermudez Montenegro • Victoria Calvert • Georgette Castner • Anne Traum • Cristina Silva • Ketanji Brown Jackson (Supreme Court) • Sarah Geraghty • Hector Gonzalez • Fred Slaughter • Jennifer Rochon • Robert Huie • Sunshine S. Sykes • Stephanie Dawkins Davis • Evelyn Padin • Sherilyn P. Garnett • Ana de Alba • J. Michelle Childs • Trina Thompson • Elizabeth Hanes • Nancy Maldonado • Nina Morrison • Gregory Williams • John Z. Lee • Sal Mendoza, Jr. • Lara Montecalvo • Florence Pan • Andre Mathis • Sarah A.L. Merriam • Jennifer Rearden • Roopali Desai • María Antongiorgi-Jordán • Camille Vélez-Rivé • Doris Pryor • Frances Kay Behm • Dana Douglas • Mia Roberts Perez • Anne Nardacci • Jeffery P. Hopkins | ||
| Commissioned in 2021 |
Ketanji Brown Jackson • Zahid Quraishi • Julien Xavier Neals • Deborah Boardman • Regina Rodriguez • Candace Jackson-Akiwumi • Lydia Kay Griggsby • Tiffany Cunningham • Eunice Lee • Angel Kelley • Florence Pan • Veronica Rossman • David G. Estudillo • Sarah A.L. Merriam • Gustavo Gelpí • Christine O'Hearn • Margaret Strickland • Karen McGlashan Williams • Patricia Tolliver Giles • Toby Heytens • Michael Nachmanoff • Sarala Nagala • Beth Robinson • Omar A. Williams • Myrna Pérez • Jia Cobb • Tana Lin • Lauren King • Lucy H. Koh • Jennifer Sung • Samantha Elliott • Katherine Menendez • Mary Dimke • Linda Lopez • Shalina Kumar • Jane Beckering • Jinsook Ohta • Jennifer L. Thurston • Stephen Locher • Charlotte Sweeney • Nina Nin-Yuen Wang • Arianna Freeman • Jerry Blackwell | ||
Federal courts:
Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals • U.S. District Court: Central District of Illinois, Northern District of Illinois, Southern District of Illinois • U.S. Bankruptcy Court: Central District of Illinois, Northern District of Illinois, Southern District of Illinois
State courts:
Illinois Supreme Court • Illinois Appellate Court • Illinois Circuit Court
State resources:
Courts in Illinois • Illinois judicial elections • Judicial selection in Illinois
