02.02.23

Durbin, Duckworth Statement On Senate Judiciary Committee Advancing Nomination Of Lindsay Jenkins To Serve As District Court Judge For The Northern District Of Illinois

WASHINGTON – U.S. Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL), Chair of the Senate Judiciary Committee, and U.S. Senator Tammy Duckworth (D-IL) today released the following statement after the Senate Judiciary Committee voted to advance Lindsay C. Jenkins’ nomination to serve as a District Court Judge on the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois.  Based on recommendations made by the screening committee the Senators established in the Northern District, Durbin and Duckworth forwarded the names of individuals to President Biden for consideration for this position, including Ms. Jenkins. 

“We are pleased that the Senate Judiciary Committee has once again advanced the nomination of Lindsay Jenkins to fill a judicial vacancy in the Northern District of Illinois.  Her experience and qualifications will strengthen our federal bench, and we will continue to guide her nomination through until she is confirmed by the Senate.”

Ms. Jenkins’ nomination was advanced through the Senate Judiciary Committee in the last Congress, but did not receive a final confirmation vote on the floor.  President Biden re-nominated Ms. Jenkins last month.  Nominees that are re-nominated and previously received a Judiciary Committee hearing do not have to have an additional hearing before the Committee.

Now that Ms. Jenkins’ nomination has received a vote in Committee, her nomination will next receive a vote by the full Senate.

In October 2021, the Senators’ announced that they would begin accepting applications from those interested in serving as a Federal District Court Judge in the Northern District of Illinois.  The Senators were assisted by a screening committee whose task was to review and vet District Court candidates and advise the Senators regarding the candidates’ qualifications and fitness for the position.  In December 2021, the Senators sent a letter to the White House recommending seven candidates for President Biden’s consideration for current and future vacancies on the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois, including Lindsay Jenkins.

The nominee’s biography from the White House is below:

Lindsay C. Jenkins is a partner at Cooley LLP in Chicago, Illinois, where she has worked since 2021. She previously served as an Assistant United States Attorney in the United States Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Illinois from 2006 to 2021. Ms. Jenkins was previously an associate at Jones Day from 2004 to 2006. She served as a law clerk for Judge Solomon Oliver, Jr. on the United States District Court for the Northern District of Ohio from 2002 to 2004. Ms. Jenkins received her J.D., summa cum laude, from Cleveland-Marshall College of Law at Cleveland State University, in 2002 and her B.A. from Miami University of Ohio in 1998. 

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