Katherine Mary Polk Failla (born May 1969) is a

United States district judge The United States district courts are the trial courts of the U.S. federal judiciary. There is one district court for each federal judicial district. Each district covers one U.S. state or a portion of a state. There is at least one feder ...

of the

United States District Court for the Southern District of New York The United States District Court for the Southern District of New York (in case citations, S.D.N.Y.) is a federal trial court whose geographic jurisdiction encompasses eight counties of the State of New York. Two of these are in New York Ci ...

Biography

Failla was born in

Edison, New Jersey Edison is a Township (New Jersey), township located in Middlesex County, New Jersey, Middlesex County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. Situated in Central Jersey, Central New Jersey within the core of the state's Raritan River, Raritan Valley r ...

. She received a

Bachelor of Arts A Bachelor of Arts (abbreviated B.A., BA, A.B. or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is the holder of a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the liberal arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts deg ...

summa cum laude Latin honors are a system of Latin phrases used in some colleges and universities to indicate the level of distinction with which an academic degree has been earned. The system is primarily used in the United States. It is also used in some Sout ...

'', in 1990 from the

College of William & Mary The College of William & Mary (abbreviated as W&M) is a public university, public research university in Williamsburg, Virginia, United States. Founded in 1693 under a royal charter issued by King William III of England, William III and Queen ...

. She received a

Juris Doctor A Juris Doctor, Doctor of Jurisprudence, or Doctor of Law (JD) is a graduate-entry professional degree that primarily prepares individuals to practice law. In the United States and the Philippines, it is the only qualifying law degree. Other j ...

''cum laude'' in 1993 from

Harvard Law School Harvard Law School (HLS) is the law school of Harvard University, a Private university, private research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1817, Harvard Law School is the oldest law school in continuous operation in the United ...

. From 1993 to 1994, she served as a

law clerk A law clerk, judicial clerk, or judicial assistant is a person, often a lawyer, who provides direct counsel and assistance to a lawyer or judge by Legal research, researching issues and drafting legal opinions for cases before the court. Judicial ...

for Judge

Joseph E. Irenas Joseph Eron Irenas (July 13, 1940 – October 16, 2015) was a United States district judge of the United States District Court for the District of New Jersey. Education and career Born in Newark, New Jersey, Irenas received an Artium Baccala ...

of the

United States District Court for the District of New Jersey The United States District Court for the District of New Jersey (in case citations, D.N.J.) is a federal court in the United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit, Third Circuit (except for patent claims and claims against the U.S. gover ...

. From 1994 to 2000, she was in private practice at the law firm of

Morgan, Lewis & Bockius Morgan, Lewis & Bockius LLP (known as Morgan Lewis) is an American white-shoe international law firm with approximately 2,200 legal professionals in 31 offices across North America, Europe, Asia, and the Middle East. Mergers with other law firms ...

, where she handled commercial litigation and securities enforcement and litigation matters. She became an

assistant United States attorney An assistant United States attorney (AUSA) is an official career civil service position in the U.S. Department of Justice composed of lawyers working under the U.S. attorney of each U.S. federal judicial district. They represent the federal gov ...

in the

Southern District of New York The Southern District of New York is a federal judicial district that encompasses the counties of New York (Manhattan), Bronx, Westchester, Rockland, Putnam, Orange, Dutchess, and Sullivan. Federal offices or agencies operating in the distri ...

in 2000. From 2004 to 2008, she served as deputy chief of the Criminal Appeals Unit and from 2008 until her appointment to the bench as chief of the Criminal Appeals Unit. Among the cases that Failla worked on while in the Criminal Appeals Unit were ''United States v. Odeh, et al.'' (prosecution of

Mohammed Odeh Mohammed Saddiq Odeh (born 1 March 1965) is a Saudi-born al-Qaeda member, sentenced in October 2001 to life imprisonment for his parts in the US embassy bombings in Kenya and Tanzania on August 7, 1998. Odeh was convicted along with three co-c ...

and many others for the

1998 United States embassy bombings The 1998 United States embassy bombings were attacks that occurred on August 7, 1998. More than 220 people were killed in two nearly simultaneous car bomb, truck bomb explosions in two East African capital cities, one at the Embassy of the Uni ...

); ''United States v. Sattar, Stewart, Yousry'' (prosecution of

Lynne Stewart Lynne Irene Stewart (October 8, 1939 – March 7, 2017) was an American defense attorney who was known for representing controversial, famous defendants. She herself was convicted on charges of conspiracy and providing material support to terro ...

and others for passing information to and from convicted terrorist

Omar Abdel-Rahman Sheikh Omar Abdel-Rahman (), (ʾUmar ʾAbd ar-Raḥmān; 3 May 1938 – 18 February 2017), commonly known in the United States as "The Blind Sheikh", was a blind Egyptians, Egyptian Islamist militant who served a Life imprisonment, life senten ...

, "the blind

sheikh Sheikh ( , , , , ''shuyūkh'' ) is an honorific title in the Arabic language, literally meaning "elder (administrative title), elder". It commonly designates a tribal chief or a Muslim ulama, scholar. Though this title generally refers to me ...

"); ''United States v. Stein, et al.'' (the

KPMG tax shelter fraud The KPMG tax shelter fraud scandal involved illegal U.S. tax shelters by KPMG that were exposed beginning in 2003. In early 2005, the United States member firm of KPMG International, KPMG LLP, was accused by the United States Department of Justice ...

case); ''United States v. Coplan, et al.'' (tax shelters promoted by

Ernst & Young EY, previously known as Ernst & Young, is a multinational corporation, multinational professional services partnership, network based in London, United Kingdom. Along with Deloitte, KPMG and PwC, it is one of the Big Four accounting firms, Big F ...

), and ''United States v. Rigas'' (prosecution of

John Rigas John James Rigas (November 14, 1924 – September 30, 2021) was an American businessman who was one of the founders of Adelphia Communications Corporation, which at its peak was one of the largest cable TV companies in the United States. He was ...

for the

Adelphia Communications Corporation Adelphia Communications Corporation was an American cable television company with headquarters in Coudersport, Pennsylvania. It was founded in 1952 by brothers Gus and John Rigas after the pair purchased a cable television franchise for US$300. ...

fraud case).

Federal judicial service

On June 25, 2012, President

Barack Obama Barack Hussein Obama II (born August 4, 1961) is an American politician who was the 44th president of the United States from 2009 to 2017. A member of the Democratic Party, he was the first African American president in American history. O ...

, on the recommendation of Senator

Chuck Schumer Charles Ellis Schumer ( ; born November 23, 1950) is an American politician serving as the Seniority in the United States Senate, senior United States Senate, United States senator from New York (state), New York, a seat he has held since 1999. ...

, nominated Failla to serve as a United States district judge of the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York, to the seat vacated by Judge

Denise Cote Denise Louise Cote (born October 13, 1946) is a United States federal judge, senior United States district judge of the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York. Early life and education Cote was born in St. Cloud, Minn ...

who assumed senior status on December 15, 2011. On September 19, 2012, the

Senate Judiciary Committee The United States Senate Committee on the Judiciary, informally known as the Senate Judiciary Committee, is a Standing committee (United States Congress), standing committee of 22 U.S. senators whose role is to oversee the United States Departm ...

held a hearing on her nomination and reported her nomination to the floor on December 6, 2012, by

voice vote In parliamentary procedure, a voice vote (from the Latin ''viva voce'', meaning "by live voice") or acclamation is a voting method in deliberative assemblies (such as legislatures) in which a group vote is taken on a topic or motion by respondin ...

. On January 2, 2013, her nomination was returned to the President, due to the adjournment ''sine die'' of the Senate. On January 3, 2013, the president renominated her to the same office. Her nomination was reported by the Senate Judiciary Committee on February 14, 2013, by voice vote. On March 4, 2013, the Senate confirmed the nomination by a 91–0 vote. She received her commission the next day.

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Failla, Katherine Polk 1969 births Living people 20th-century American lawyers 20th-century American women lawyers 21st-century American women judges 21st-century American lawyers 21st-century American women lawyers Assistant United States attorneys College of William & Mary alumni Harvard Law School alumni Judges of the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York New York (state) lawyers People from Edison, New Jersey United States district court judges appointed by Barack Obama