| For Immediate Release: Date: January 10, 2024 | Contact: Rahat N. Babar, Deputy Executive Director for Policy |
WASHINGTON – Today, President Joe Biden announced his intention to nominate Amir H. Ali to the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, Judge Sunil R. Harjani to the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois, and Jasmine Yoon to the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Virginia.
“Amir H. Ali, Judge Sunil R. Harjani, and Jasmine H. Yoon are exceptionally well qualified to serve on our federal judiciary,” said Anna Mercado Clark, President of NAPABA. “Active in the AANHPI community, if confirmed, Ms. Yoon, a former board member of APABA-VA, would be the first Asian American to serve as an Article III judge in Virginia. A prominent member of the Chicago South Asian legal community, Judge Harjani was the first South Asian American to serve as a U.S. Magistrate in the Northern District of Illinois. Mr. Ali is an experienced civil rights litigator who has worked to elevate the voices of marginalized communities at the U.S. Supreme Court. NAPABA is proud to support these nominees.”
Amir H. Ali has been President and Executive Director of the MacArthur Justice Center since 2021 and Director of the Criminal Justice Appellate Clinic at Harvard Law School since 2018. Previously, Mr. Ali worked in private practice as an associate at Jenner & Block LLP in Washington, DC, from 2013-17. He also served as a law clerk for Justice Marshall Rothstein on the Supreme Court of Canada from 2012-13 and Judge Raymond C. Fisher on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit from 2011-12. Mr. Ali received his J.D., magna cum laude, from Harvard Law School in 2011 and his B.S.E. from the University of Waterloo in Ontario, Canada, in 2008.
Judge Sunil R. Harjani has been a United States Magistrate Judge for the Northern District of Illinois since 2019. Judge Harjani served as an 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 from 2008-19. He also practiced federal civil litigation as a senior counsel at the U.S. Securities & Exchange Commission from 2004-08 and as an associate at Jenner & Block LLP in Chicago from 2000-01 and 2002-04. Judge Harjani served as a law clerk for Judge Suzanne B. Conlon on the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois from 2001-02. He received his J.D., cum laude, from Northwestern University Pritzker School of Law in 2000 and his B.A. from Northwestern University in 1997.
Jasmine H. Yoon has been the Vice President of Corporate Integrity, Ethics, and Investigations at Capital One Financial Corporation since 2022. Previously, Ms. Yoon worked as Interim University Counsel and Associate University Counsel at the University of Virginia in Charlottesville from 2019-22. Prior to that, Ms. Yoon served as an Assistant United States Attorney in the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Virginia from 2010-16. Ms. Yoon was also an associate at Crowell & Moring LLP in Washington, DC, from 2006-09 in its White Collar and Regulatory Enforcement group. She served as a law clerk for Judge James C. Cacheris on the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia from 2009-10. Ms. Yoon received her J.D. from the University of Virginia School of Law in 2006 and her B.A. from the University of Virginia in 2003.
NAPABA thanks Senators Durbin and Duckworth of Illinois, Senators Warner and Kaine of Virginia, and Delegate Norton of the District of Columbia for supporting their nominations.
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The National Asian Pacific American Bar Association (NAPABA) represents the interests of over 60,000 Asian Pacific American (APA) legal professionals and nearly 90 national, state, and local APA bar associations. NAPABA is a leader in addressing civil rights issues confronting Asian American, Native Hawaiian, and Pacific Islander communities. Through its national network, NAPABA provides a strong voice for increased diversity of the federal and state judiciaries, advocates for equal opportunity in the workplace, works to eliminate hate crimes and anti-immigrant sentiment, and promotes the professional development of people of all backgrounds in the legal profession.