Robert Edwin Bacharach (born May 20, 1959) is a United States circuit judge of the

United States Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit The United States Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit (in case citations, 10th Cir.) is a federal court with appellate jurisdiction over the district courts in the following districts: * District of Colorado * District of Kansas * Distr ...

Early life and career

Bacharach was born in

Clarksdale, Mississippi Clarksdale is a city in and the county seat of Coahoma County, Mississippi, United States. It is located along the Sunflower River. Clarksdale is named after John Clark, a settler who founded the city in the mid-19th century when he establishe ...

. He attended Washington University in St. Louis for one year and received his

Bachelor of Arts Bachelor of arts (BA or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts degree course is generally completed in three or four yea ...

degree, magna cum laude, from the

University of Oklahoma , mottoeng = "For the benefit of the Citizen and the State" , type = Public research university , established = , academic_affiliations = , endowment = $2.7billion (2021) , pr ...

in 1981. He received his

Juris Doctor The Juris Doctor (J.D. or JD), also known as Doctor of Jurisprudence (J.D., JD, D.Jur., or DJur), is a graduate-entry professional degree in law and one of several Doctor of Law degrees. The J.D. is the standard degree obtained to practice l ...

from the

Washington University School of Law Washington University in St. Louis School of Law (WashULaw) is the law school of Washington University in St. Louis, a private university in St. Louis, Missouri. WashULaw has consistently ranked among the top law schools in the country; it is c ...

in 1985 where he graduated

Order of the Coif The Order of the Coif is an honor society for United States law school graduates. The name is a reference to the ancient English order of advocates, the serjeants-at-law, whose courtroom attire included a coif—a white lawn or silk skullcap, ...

. He served as an editor of the ''

Washington University Law Quarterly The ''Washington University Law Review'' is a bimonthly law review published by students at Washington University School of Law Washington University in St. Louis School of Law (WashULaw) is the law school of Washington University in St. Loui ...

''. He served two years as

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

to Judge

William Judson Holloway Jr. William Judson Holloway Jr. (June 23, 1923 – April 25, 2014) was a United States circuit judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit. Education and career Born in Hugo, Oklahoma, Holloway graduated from Classen High Sch ...

of the

. In 1987, he joined the

Oklahoma City Oklahoma City (), officially the City of Oklahoma City, and often shortened to OKC, is the capital and largest city of the U.S. state of Oklahoma. The county seat of Oklahoma County, it ranks 20th among United States cities in population, and ...

law firm of

Crowe & Dunlevy Crowe & Dunlevy is an American law firm headquartered in Oklahoma. Founded in 1902, it is the second largest law firm in Oklahoma with offices in Oklahoma City, Tulsa and Dallas, and is Oklahoma's second oldest law firm."The Journal Record", ...

, P.C. as an associate, becoming a shareholder in 1994. His concentration was commercial litigation. He served as an adjunct professor at the

University of Oklahoma College of Law The University of Oklahoma College of Law is the professional graduate law school of the University of Oklahoma. It is located on the University's campus in Norman, Oklahoma. The College of Law was founded in 1909 by a resolution of the OU Bo ...

, teaching civil pretrial litigation.

Federal judicial service

United States magistrate judge service

Bacharach was appointed

United States magistrate judge In United States federal courts, magistrate judges are judges appointed to assist U.S. district court judges in the performance of their duties. Magistrate judges generally oversee first appearances of criminal defendants, set bail, and conduc ...

of the

United States District Court for the Western District of Oklahoma The United States District Court for the Western District of Oklahoma (in case citations, W.D. Okla. or W.D. Ok.) is a federal court in the Tenth Circuit (except for patent claims and claims against the U.S. government under the Tucker Act, wh ...

in 1999, holding that office until his elevation to Circuit Judge in 2013. He is an active member of the Federal Bar Association and has served as the Tenth Circuit Vice President since 2007. During his time as a Magistrate Judge, he handled nearly 3,000 civil and criminal cases and presided over more than 400 judicial settlement conferences. He issued more than 1,600 reports and recommendations in a wide variety of judicial matters. He chaired numerous committees for his district, including the Civil Rules Committee and the Criminal Justice Act Committee.

United States court of appeals service

On January 23, 2012, President

Barack Obama Barack Hussein Obama II ( ; born August 4, 1961) is an American politician who served as the 44th president of the United States from 2009 to 2017. A member of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party, Obama was the first Af ...

nominated Bacharach to be United States Circuit Judge for the United States Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit. On July 26, 2012, Senate Majority Leader

Harry Reid Harry Mason Reid Jr. (; December 2, 1939 – December 28, 2021) was an American lawyer and politician who served as a United States senator from Nevada from 1987 to 2017. He led the Senate Democratic Caucus from 2005 to 2017 and was the Sena ...

filed for

cloture Cloture (, also ), closure or, informally, a guillotine, is a motion or process in parliamentary procedure aimed at bringing debate to a quick end. The cloture procedure originated in the French National Assembly, from which the name is taken. ' ...

on Bacharach's nomination. A cloture vote held on July 30, 2012, failed by a 56–34 vote, with 3 senators voted present, including both Oklahoma Senators,

Tom Coburn Thomas Allen Coburn (March 14, 1948 – March 28, 2020) was an American politician and physician who served as a United States senator for Oklahoma from 2005, until his resignation in 2015. A Republican, he previously served as a United St ...

and

James Inhofe James Mountain Inhofe ( ; born November 17, 1934) is an American politician serving as the senior United States senator from Oklahoma, a seat he was first elected to in 1994. A member of the Republican Party, he chaired the U.S. Senate Committe ...

. On January 2, 2013, his nomination was returned to the President, due to the

sine die adjournment Adjournment ''sine die'' (from Latin "without a day") is the conclusion of a meeting by a deliberative assembly, such as a legislature or organizational board, without setting a day to reconvene. The assembly can reconvene, either in its pre ...

of the Senate. On January 3, 2013, he was renominated to the same office. On February 7, 2013, the

Senate Judiciary Committee The United States Senate Committee on the Judiciary, informally the Senate Judiciary Committee, is a standing committee of 22 U.S. senators whose role is to oversee the Department of Justice (DOJ), consider executive and judicial nominations ...

reported his nomination to the floor by

voice vote In parliamentary procedure, a voice vote (from the Latin ''viva voce'', meaning "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 responding vo ...

. The Senate confirmed his nomination on February 25, 2013, by a 93–0 vote. He received his commission on February 28, 2013.

References

External links