President Barack Obama announces his six nominations for the United States District Court.
He nominated Christopher Reid Cooper, Daniel D. Crabtree, M. Douglas Harpool, Sheryl H. Lipman, Gerald Austin McHugh, Jr., and Judge Edward G. Smith.
"I am honored to put forward these highly qualified candidates for the federal bench," President Obama said in a release issued by the White House. "They will be distinguished public servants and valuable additions to the United States District Court."
Smith and McHugh are both nominees for District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania.
McHugh is a partner at the Philadelphia-based law firm of Raynes McCarty. Prior to joining the firm, McHugh was a shareholder for 23 years with the civil litigation firm of Litvin, Blumberg, Matusow, and Young. After graduating from the University of Pennsylvania Law School in 1979, McHugh served as a law clerk for the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District.
Every year for nearly a decade, Philadelphia Magazine has named McHugh as one of the Top 10 "Super Lawyers" in Pennsylvania.
Smith has served on the Pennsylvania Court of Common Pleas in Northampton County since 2002. He is also a 27-year veteran of the U.S. Navy Judge Advocate General's Corps, holding the rank of Captain. Smith is serving his second tour as a military trial judge, presiding over military courts-martial at Navy and Marine Corps bases all over the world.
He is a graduate of Franklin and Marshall College and Penn State's Dickinson School of Law.
