Biden taps Hall for District Court judgeship

WILMINGTON – President Joe Biden nominated U.S. District Court of Delaware Magistrate Judge Jennifer L. Hall on Wednesday to fill an impending vacated seat on the federal bench.

U.S. District Court of Delaware Jennifer Hall
Jennifer Hall | PHOTO COURTESY OF US COURTS

If confirmed by the U.S. Senate, Hall will fill a judicial vacancy to be created when Judge Richard G. Andrews takes senior status at the end of this year.

Serving as a magistrate judge since 2019, Hall is a judicial officer of the U.S. district court appointed by the district judges to handle a variety of judicial proceedings, including issuing warrants, conducting preliminary proceedings in criminal cases, hearing cases involving petty offenses committed on federal lands, and handling pretrial motions and hearings in civil and criminal cases. While most civil cases are tried by district judges, magistrate judges may also preside over civil trials if all parties consent.

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Prior to joining the court, Hall served as an assistant U.S. attorney in the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Delaware from 2011 to 2019, including as chief of the office’s Civil Division from 2015 to 2019. Before a turn to prosecution, she was a patent lawyer in the Wilmington office of Fish & Richardson P.C.

Hall was recommended by U.S. Sens. Tom Carper and Chris Coons (both D-Del.) for the judgeship.

“Jennifer Hall will be an outstanding District Court judge for Delaware,” the senators said in a joint statement. “She has impeccable credentials for this post, given her experience as both a magistrate judge and as an assistant U.S. attorney in Delaware, as well as her background in biochemistry and extensive work in patent law – the latter especially important for a state as innovation-driven as ours. We applaud President Biden for appointing someone so well-suited to handle the District of Delaware’s significant and complex docket.

“Judge Hall is respected immensely by her colleagues and peers on the court, and we know she will ably fill the post to be vacated by Judge Andrews. The people of Delaware and our nation will be well-served with this nomination, and we look forward to a swift hearing and confirmation.”

Hall received her J.D. from the University of Pennsylvania Law School, an M.Phil. and Ph.D. in molecular biophysics and biochemistry from Yale University, and a B.S. in biochemistry from the University of Minnesota.

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She served as a law clerk for Judge Kent A. Jordan on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit from 2007 to 2008 and Judge Sharon Prost on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit from 2006 to 2007.

The addition of Hall would be the second appointment that Biden has made to his home state’s federal bench, after tapping Gregory Williams last year.

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