Obama nominates Indian-American on US Court of Appeals

WASHINGTON: US President Barack Obama has nominated Indian-American Srikanth Srinivasan to a key judiciary position and termed him as a trailblazer.

According to the White House, Srinivasan has been nominated to serve on the US Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit along with Caitlin Halligan.

"Caitlin Halligan and Sri Srinivasan are dedicated public servants who will bring their tremendous experience, intellect, and integrity to the US Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit," Obama said.

"This important court is often called the Nation's second-highest court, and it stands more than a quarter vacant. Srinivasan will be a trailblazer and, like Halligan, will serve the court with distinction and excellence,"he said.

Born in Chandigarh and brought up in Kansas, Srinivasan is the Principal Deputy Solicitor General of the US.

"He is a highly-respected appellate advocate who has spent a distinguished career litigating before the US Supreme Court and the US Courts of Appeals, both on behalf of the United States and in private practice," the White House said.

Srinivasan began his legal career by serving as a law clerk for Judge J Harvie Wilkinson on the US Court of Appeals for the DC Circuit from 1995 to 1996.

He then spent a year as a Bristow Fellow in the Office of the Solicitor General before clerking for Justice Sandra Day O'Connor during the Supreme Court's 1997-98 term.

He was an associate at the law firm of O'Melveny & Myers LLP in Washington, DC, from 1998 until 2002. In 2002, he returned to the Solicitor General's Office as an Assistant, representing the US in litigation before the Supreme Court.

In 2007, Srinivasan became a partner with O'Melveny & Myers LLP. In 2011, he was named the Chair of the firm's Appellate Practice Group. He was named as the Principal Deputy Solicitor General in August 2011.