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By Dave II Posted in Circuit Courts — Comments () / Email this page » / Leave a comment »

One of our diligent members, tbaugh, has alerted me to an article from the Detroit News that reports Bush will soon name Michigan lawyers Stephen J. Murphy III and Raymond Kethledge to the United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit. Who are these guys? Let's break it down below the fold!

According to the Detroit News,

Detroit FBI agents have interviewed local lawyers and federal judges in recent weeks in conducting background checks of Murphy, the eastern Michigan's top federal prosecutor, and Troy lawyer Raymond Kethledge, a former law clerk to Supreme Court Justice Anthony Kennedy.

Murphy, 43, a former assistant U.S. attorney, was a lawyer at General Motors Corp. before he took over as U.S. attorney in March 2005.

Kethledge, 39, was also counsel to U.S. Sen. Spencer Abraham and an attorney for Ford Motor Co.

Stephen J. Murphy III, currently the U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Michigan, has practiced law since graduating from St. Louis School of Law in Missouri in 1987, where he was assistant editor of the law review. He served in the Department of Justice and U.S. Attorney's Office as a trial lawyer from 1987-1992 before becoming general counsel to Ford Motor Company in 2000. He returned to the U.S. Attorney's Office in 2005. From this bio, you can learn that he was also President of the local Federalist Society from 2002-2003. He has been an adjunct professor for both Ave Maria Law School and Detroit Mercy School of Law for many years. Here's an article about his swearing in as U.S. Attorney that shows he has friends on both sides of the aisle.

Raymond Kethledge is currently a partner at the Michigan firm of Bush, Seyferth, Kethledge, and Paige. He graduated from the University of Michigan School of Law in 1993, and clerked for Sixth Circuit Judge Ralph Guy (Reagan appointee) and Supreme Court Justice Anthony Kennedy. He then served as general counsel to Sen. Spencer Abraham from 1995-1997. Like Murphy, he was at one time a counsel to the Ford Motor Company, and he was previously a partner in the firm of Honigman Miller Schwartz and Cohn. Judging by when he graduated law school, I'd guess he's not yet 40.

Both men sound like great picks to the Sixth Circuit. Currently, this Court has an 8-6 party divide with a Republican majority and two vacancies. As the third largest court of appeals, it's important to cement a good conservative majority up there. These gentlemen sound like they could do the job.