Richard J. Sullivan

Richard J. Sullivan
Judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit
Designate
Assuming office
TBD
Appointed by Donald Trump
Succeeding Richard C. Wesley
Judge of the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York
Assumed office
August 1, 2007
Appointed by George W. Bush
Preceded by Michael Mukasey
Personal details
Born Richard Joseph Sullivan
(1964-04-10) April 10, 1964
Manhasset, New York, U.S.
Education College of William & Mary (BA)
Yale Law School (JD)

Richard Joseph Sullivan (born April 10, 1964) is an American jurist who has served as a United States District Judge of the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York since 2007. In April 2018, he was nominated by President Donald Trump to become a Judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit and was confirmed by the United States Senate in October 2018.

Background and education

Sullivan was born in Manhasset, New York. He graduated from Chaminade High School in 1982 and earned a Bachelor of Arts in government and English at the College of William & Mary in 1986. He received his Juris Doctor from Yale Law School in 1990.[1]

After law school, Sullivan worked as a law clerk to United States Circuit Judge David M. Ebel of the United States Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit and as a litigation associate at Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz.[1]

From 1994 to 2005, Sullivan served as an Assistant United States Attorney in the Southern District of New York, where he successfully prosecuted the Maisonet heroin organization, which sold approximately $100,000 worth of heroin per day in the Hunts Point section of the Bronx and carried out numerous murders in aid of its racketeering activity.[2] Among those prosecuted in that case was Bronx defense attorney Pat Stiso, who acted as house counsel to the RICO enterprise.[3] Other notable cases included the investigation and indictment of Mario Villanueva Madrid, who as governor of the Mexican state of Quintana Roo accepted millions of dollars from Mexican drug cartels in exchange for providing safe passage for ton quantities of cocaine en route to the United States.[4] Madrid was eventually extradited to the United States, where he pleaded guilty to money laundering conspiracy.[5]

In 2002, Sullivan became chief of the newly created International Narcotics Trafficking Unit (INT), which was responsible for investigating and prosecuting the world's largest and most powerful narcotics organizations.[6] Among the noteworthy defendants prosecuted by that unit were Colombia kingpins Alberto Orlandez Gamboa, Diego Murillo Bejarano, and Miguel and Gilberto Rodriguez Orejuela; Afghan warlord Bashir Noorzai; Dutch ecstasy kingpin Henk Rommy; and the leadership of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC).

Sullivan was named Prosecutor of the Year by the Federal Law Enforcement Association in 1998 and was awarded the Henry L. Stimson Medal from the New York City Bar Association in 2003.[7] In 2005, Sullivan joined Marsh, Inc., a global risk and insurances firm, as deputy general counsel for litigation.[8] He was named general counsel of Marsh in June 2006.

Judicial career

District court service

On February 15, 2007, Sullivan was nominated by President George W. Bush to a seat on the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York vacated by Judge Michael Mukasey, who had retired from the bench in September 2006. Sullivan was confirmed by the United States Senate in a vote of 99–0 on June 28, 2007, and received his commission on August 1, 2007. He was among the "Judges to Watch" named in the September 2012 issue of The American Lawyer.[9]

Sullivan sits on the executive board of the New York American Inn of Court and is an adjunct professor at Fordham University School of Law, where he teaches courses on white collar crime and trial advocacy,[10] and Columbia Law School, where he teaches a course on sentencing.[11]

In 2012, Sullivan sentenced Vitaly Borker, who threatened to rape and murder customers under the belief that negative reviews of his online eyeglass store would increase its Google PageRank, to four years in prison.[12] In December 2012, Sullivan participated in a musical revue hosted by the New York American Inn of Court on the topic of civility in the legal profession.[13]

In 2015, Above the Law listed Sullivan as one of several District Court "feeder" judges who have sent multiple former clerks onto Supreme Court clerkships.[14]

Nomination to court of appeals

On April 26, 2018, President Trump announced his intent to nominate Sullivan to serve as a United States Circuit Judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit.[15][16] On May 7, 2018, his nomination was sent to the Senate. He was nominated to the seat vacated by Judge Richard C. Wesley, who assumed senior status on August 1, 2016. On August 1, 2018, a hearing on his nomination was held before the Senate Judiciary Committee.[17] On September 13, 2018 his nomination was reported out of committee by a 17–4 vote.[18] On October 11, 2018 the United States Senate voted 79-16 to confirm his nomination. [19] He is currently awaiting his judicial commission.

Notable cases

  • S.E.C. v. Syron, --- F. Supp. 2d ----, 2013 WL 1285572 (S.D.N.Y. Mar. 28, 2013)
  • S.E.C. v. Straub, --- F. Supp. 2d ----, 2013 WL 466600 (S.D.N.Y. Feb. 08, 2013)
  • Dinler v. City of New York, 2012 WL 4513352 (S.D.N.Y. Sept. 30, 2012)
  • In re UBS Securities Litigation, 2012 WL 4471265 (S.D.N.Y. Sept. 28, 2012)
  • Merrill Lynch Capital Servs. v. UISA Fin., 2012 WL 1202034 (S.D.N.Y. Apr. 10, 2012)
  • U.S. v. Goffer, No. 10 Cr. 56 (RJS)
  • In re Wachovia Equity Securities Litigation, 753 F. Supp. 2d 326 (S.D.N.Y. 2011)
  • U.S. v. Painting known as Le Marche, 2010 WL 2229159 (S.D.N.Y. May 25, 2010)
  • New York Civil Liberties Union v. New York City Transit Authority, 675 F. Supp. 2d 411 (S.D.N.Y. 2009)
  • U.S. v. DiPascali, No. 09 Cr. 764 (RJS)
  • Tiffany (NJ) Inc. v. eBay, 576 F. Supp. 2d 463 (S.D.N.Y. 2008)

Memberships

He is a member of the Federalist Society.[1]

References

  1. 1 2 3 Severino, Carrie (April 29, 2018). "Who is Judge Richard Sullivan?". National Review. Retrieved 1 May 2018.
  2. ↑ Weiser, Benjamin (January 15, 1998). "U.S. Indicts Bronx Lawyer Accused of Abetting a Drug Gang" – via NYTimes.com.
  3. ↑ Weiser, Benjamin (August 13, 1998). "Lawyer Admits He Held Clients' Drug Money" – via NYTimes.com.
  4. ↑ "U.S. v. Madrid, 02 Cr. 416 (NRB), Indictment" (PDF).
  5. ↑ Reuters (August 2, 2012). "Former Mexican Governor Pleads Guilty" – via NYTimes.com.
  6. ↑ Weiser, Benjamin (March 27, 2011). "For Prosecutor in New York, a Global Beat" – via NYTimes.com.
  7. ↑ "The Henry L. Stimson Medal".
  8. ↑ "Marsh & McLennan Companies, Inc. – News Release".
  9. ↑ "Richard Sullivan".
  10. ↑ Fordham. "Fordham online information – Academics – Colleges and Schools – Graduate Schools – School of Law – Faculty – Faculty Bios".
  11. ↑ "Richard Sullivan".
  12. ↑ Segal, David (May 26, 2017). "Eyeglass Vendor, Imprisoned for Terrorizing Consumers, Is Accused of Fraud". The New York Times. p. B2. Retrieved May 28, 2017.
  13. ↑ "Log In".
  14. ↑ Lat, David. "Supreme Court Clerk Hiring Watch: Ranking The Non-Traditional Feeder Judges".
  15. ↑ "President Donald J. Trump Announces Thirteenth Wave of Judicial Nominees and Seventh Wave of United States Marshal Nominees". whitehouse.gov. April 26, 2018. Retrieved April 26, 2018. This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain.
  16. ↑ Simmons, Christine (April 26, 2018). "White House Nominates SDNY's Sullivan for Second Circuit Bench". New York Law Journal. Law.com. Retrieved 1 May 2018.
  17. ↑ United States Senate Committee on the Judiciary: Nominations for August 1, 2018
  18. ↑ Results of Executive Business Meeting – September 13, 2018 Senate Judiciary Committee
  19. ↑ "U.S. Senate: U.S. Senate Roll Call Votes 115th Congress - 2nd Session". www.senate.gov. Retrieved 2018-10-12.
Legal offices
Preceded by
Michael Mukasey		 Judge of the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York
2007–2018		 Vacant
Preceded by
Richard C. Wesley		 Judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit
2018–present		 Incumbent
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