April Michelle Perry (born 1979) is an American lawyer who is serving as a United States district judge of the

United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois The United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois (in case citations, N.D. Ill.) is the federal trial court with jurisdiction over the northern counties of Illinois. It is one of the busiest federal trial courts in the Uni ...

. Perry was previously the nominee to serve as the

United States attorney United States attorneys are officials of the U.S. Department of Justice who serve as the chief federal law enforcement officers in each of the 94 U.S. federal judicial districts. Each U.S. attorney serves as the United States' chief federal ...

for the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois, but her nomination stalled and President Biden instead nominated her for a federal judgeship.

Education

Perry received a

Bachelor of Science A Bachelor of Science (BS, BSc, B.S., B.Sc., SB, or ScB; from the Latin ') is a bachelor's degree that is awarded for programs that generally last three to five years. The first university to admit a student to the degree of Bachelor of Scienc ...

, ''

magna 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 2000 from

Northwestern University Northwestern University (NU) is a Private university, private research university in Evanston, Illinois, United States. Established in 1851 to serve the historic Northwest Territory, it is the oldest University charter, chartered university in ...

and 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 ...

, ''magna cum laude'', in 2003 from Northwestern University Pritzker School of Law.

Career

From 2003 to 2004, Perry 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 Joel Flaum of the

United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit The United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit (in case citations, 7th Cir.) is the U.S. United States federal court, federal court with appellate jurisdiction over the United States district court, courts in the following United Stat ...

. From 2004 to 2016, she served as 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 U.S. Attorney's Office for the Northern District of Illinois. While an AUSA, from 2010 to 2011, she was the deputy chief in the Narcotics and Gangs Section. From 2011 to 2016, she served as supervisory litigation counsel. From 2010 to 2016 she was the Project Safe Childhood coordinator and from 2014 to 2016 she was the Civil Rights and Hate Crimes coordinator. From 2017 to 2019, Perry served as the Chief Deputy State's Attorney and chief ethics officer for the Cook County State's Attorney's Office. From 2019 to 2022, she was

general counsel A general counsel, also known as chief counsel or chief legal officer (CLO), is the chief in-house lawyer for a company or a governmental department. In a company, the person holding the position typically reports directly to the CEO, and their ...

for Ubiety Technologies, an

artificial intelligence Artificial intelligence (AI) is the capability of computer, computational systems to perform tasks typically associated with human intelligence, such as learning, reasoning, problem-solving, perception, and decision-making. It is a field of re ...

technology start up. From 2022 to 2024, she was the senior counsel of global investigations and fraud and abuse prevention at GE HealthCare.

Nomination as U.S. attorney

Perry was one of two candidates submitted to the White House by Senators

Dick Durbin Richard Joseph Durbin (born November 21, 1944) is an American lawyer and politician serving as the Seniority in the United States Senate, senior United States senator from the state of Illinois, a seat he has held since 1997. A member of the Dem ...

and

Tammy Duckworth Ladda Tammy Duckworth (born March 12, 1968) is an American politician and retired Army National Guard Lieutenant colonel (United States), lieutenant colonel serving since 2017 as the Seniority in the United States Senate, junior United States ...

. On June 28, 2023, President

Joe Biden Joseph Robinette Biden Jr. (born November 20, 1942) is an American politician who was the 46th president of the United States from 2021 to 2025. A member of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party, he served as the 47th vice p ...

announced his intent to nominate Perry to be the United States attorney for the Northern District of Illinois. On July 11, 2023, her nomination was sent to the Senate. On September 14, 2023, her nomination was reported out of the committee by a 12–9 vote. On January 3, 2024, her nomination was returned to the president under Rule XXXI, Paragraph 6 of the

United States Senate The United States Senate is a chamber of the Bicameralism, bicameral United States Congress; it is the upper house, with the United States House of Representatives, U.S. House of Representatives being the lower house. Together, the Senate and ...

. She was renominated on January 11, 2024. If Perry had been confirmed, she would have become the first woman to serve as U.S. attorney for the Northern District of Illinois. Perry's nomination was blocked by Senator J.D. Vance in protest of the indictments of former President

Donald Trump Donald John Trump (born June 14, 1946) is an American politician, media personality, and businessman who is the 47th president of the United States. A member of the Republican Party (United States), Republican Party, he served as the 45 ...

. Her nomination was withdrawn by the White House on July 11, 2024, when her nomination to the district court was sent to the Senate.

Federal judicial service

On April 24, 2024, President

announced his intent to nominate Perry to serve as a United States district judge of the

. On July 11, 2024, her nomination was sent to the

. He nominated Perry to the seat being vacated by Judge Nancy L. Maldonado, who was subsequently confirmed to serve as a circuit judge of the

. On July 31, 2024, a hearing on her nomination was held before 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 ...

. On September 19, 2024, her nomination was reported out of committee by a 13–8 vote. On November 12, 2024, the

confirmed her nomination by a 51–44 vote. She received her judicial commission on November 20, 2024. She was sworn in on November 26, 2024.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Perry, April 1979 births Living people 21st-century American lawyers 21st-century American women judges 21st-century American women lawyers Assistant United States attorneys Illinois lawyers Judges of the United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois Lawyers from San Diego Northwestern University alumni Northwestern University Pritzker School of Law alumni United States district court judges appointed by Joe Biden