James David Cain Jr. (born November 30, 1964) 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, which each cover one U.S. state or, in some cases, a portion of a state. Each district cou ...

of the

United States District Court for the Western District of Louisiana The United States District Court for the Western District of Louisiana (in case citations, W.D. La.) is a United States federal court with jurisdiction over approximately two thirds of the state of Louisiana, with courts in Alexandria, Lafayett ...

Education

Cain earned 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 ...

from

McNeese State University McNeese State University is a public university in Lake Charles, Louisiana. Founded in 1939 as Lake Charles Junior College, it was renamed McNeese Junior College after John McNeese, an early local educator. The present name was adopted in 1970. M ...

(where he was roommates with

Joe Dumars Joe Dumars III ( ; born May 24, 1963) is an American professional basketball executive and former player who is the executive vice president and head of basketball operations of the National Basketball Association (NBA). He could play either sho ...

) and 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 ...

, ''cum laude'', from the

Southern University Law Center Southern University Law Center is a public law school in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. It is part of the historically black Southern University System and was opened for instruction in September 1947. It was authorized by the Louisiana State Board of E ...

Baton Rouge Baton Rouge ( ; ) is a city in and the capital of the U.S. state of Louisiana. Located the eastern bank of the Mississippi River, it is the parish seat of East Baton Rouge Parish, Louisiana's most populous parish—the equivalent of countie ...

. Prior to entering law school, he served for three years as a congressional aide to

Representative Representative may refer to: Politics *Representative democracy, type of democracy in which elected officials represent a group of people *House of Representatives, legislative body in various countries or sub-national entities *Legislator, someon ...

Jimmy Hayes James Allison Hayes (born December 21, 1946) is an American politician and lawyer. He is a Republican from Louisiana. Background Born in Lafayette, Hayes graduated from the University of Louisiana at Lafayette (then the University of Southw ...

, who served

Louisiana's 7th congressional district Louisiana's 7th congressional district was a congressional district in the U.S. state of Louisiana located in the southwestern part of the state. It last contained the cities of Crowley, Eunice, Jennings, Lafayette, Lake Charles, Opelousas, S ...

from 1987 to 1997."President Donald J. Trump Announces Seventeenth Wave of Judicial Nominees", The White House, August 27, 2018

Legal career

Upon graduation from law school, Cain clerked for Judge Henry L. Yelverton of the Louisiana Third Circuit Court of Appeal. Before starting his own firm, he practiced for twelve years at Lundy & Davis. He is a founding member and former partner of the Lake Charles-based firm Loftin, Cain & LeBlanc, LLC, where his practice focused on civil litigation in state and federal courts.

Federal judicial service

On August 27, 2018, President

Donald Trump Donald John Trump (born June 14, 1946) is an American politician, media personality, and businessman who served as the 45th president of the United States from 2017 to 2021. Trump graduated from the Wharton School of the University of ...

announced his intent to nominate Cain to serve as a

for the

. On August 28, 2018, his nomination was sent to the

United States Senate The United States Senate is the upper chamber of the United States Congress, with the House of Representatives being the lower chamber. Together they compose the national bicameral legislature of the United States. The composition and ...

. President Trump nominated Cain to the vacated by Judge Patricia Head Minaldi, who assumed

senior status Senior status is a form of semi- retirement for United States federal judges. To qualify, a judge in the federal court system must be at least 65 years old, and the sum of the judge's age and years of service as a federal judge must be at leas ...

on July 31, 2017. On November 13, 2018, a hearing on his nomination was held before 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 nomination ...

. On January 3, 2019, his nomination was returned to the President under Rule XXXI, Paragraph 6 of the

. On January 23, 2019, President Trump announced his intent to renominate Cain for a federal judgeship. His nomination was sent to the Senate later that day. On February 7, 2019, his nomination was reported out of committee by a 20–2 vote. On June 18, 2019, the Senate invoked cloture on his nomination by a 76–20 vote. On June 19, 2019, his nomination was confirmed by a 77–21 vote. He received his judicial commission on June 25, 2019.

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Cain, James D. Jr. 1964 births Living people 20th-century American lawyers 21st-century American judges 21st-century American lawyers Judges of the United States District Court for the Western District of Louisiana Louisiana lawyers McNeese State University alumni People from DeRidder, Louisiana People from Lake Charles, Louisiana Southern University Law Center alumni United States district court judges appointed by Donald Trump