A Venezuelan-born Miami lawyer becomes one of the youngest U.S. lifetime judges ever

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A Venezuelan-born Miami lawyer becomes one of the youngest U.S. lifetime judges ever
Miami Herald, Apr 4, 2019, By Alex Daugherty 

The U.S. Senate confirmed a Venezuelan-born Miami lawyer on Thursday to the federal bench in South Florida, the first judicial nominee confirmed after Senate Republicans changed the rules to lessen the power of the minority party during the confirmation process.

Roy Altman, a lawyer at Miami firm Podhurst Orseck, was approved by the Senate to be a U.S. district judge in a 66-33 vote on Thursday, with 14 Democrats joining Republicans to confirm him. Republican Sen. Rand Paul joined 30 Democrats and two independents to vote against Altman’s nomination.

Altman’s private work was centered on aviation law, and he represented victims of high-profile airline crashes like the Malaysia Airlines flight that disappeared over the Indian Ocean in 2014. He also worked as an assistant U.S. attorney for the Southern District of Florida.

“Today’s vote is an important step in ensuring Florida’s federal judiciary continues functioning at a high level. I am confident that Roy Altman will serve Florida’s Southern District with honor and integrity,” Sen. Marco Rubio said in a statement.

Altman, 36, will be one of the youngest judges ever confirmed for a lifetime post. Washington lawyer Allison Rushing, also 36 but two months younger than Altman, was confirmed as a federal appeals court judge in March. Altman was first nominated for a federal judgeship by President Donald Trump last year, but his nomination expired at the end of 2018.

“Today the U.S. Senate will begin to break through Dem obstruction by voting to confirm Roy Altman as US District Judge for the Southern District of Florida,” Sen. Rick Scott said on Twitter before the vote. “Roy will serve Floridians well in his new role and I look forward to his confirmation!”

Read more here: https://www.miamiherald.com/news/local/article228825299.html#storylink=cpy

[Right_in_Virginia]

Altman received a Bachelor of Arts in 2004 from Columbia University, where he was quarterback on the football team and was a pitcher on the baseball team. He received a Juris Doctor in 2007 from Yale Law School, where he was Projects Editor for the Yale Law Journal. He began his legal career as a law clerk to Judge Stanley Marcus of the United States Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit.

Altman served as an Assistant United States Attorney for six years in the Southern District of Florida, where he where he prosecuted hundreds of criminal cases and tried more than 20 cases to jury verdict, arguing several of these before the United States Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit. He won the Director of the Executive Office of U.S. Attorneys Award for Superior Litigation Team in United States v. Mentor, the Director of the Executive Office of U.S. Attorneys Award for Superior Litigation Performance in United States v. Flanders, the Federal Bar Association Young Federal Lawyer Award, and the Federal Prosecutor of the Year award from the Miami-Dade County Association of Chiefs of Police and the Law Enforcement Officers Charitable Foundation.

 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roy_Altman