John Michael Seabright (born January 30, 1959) is an American lawyer who serves as a

senior Senior (shortened as Sr.) means "the elder" in Latin and is often used as a suffix for the elder of two or more people in the same family with the same given name, usually a parent or grandparent. It may also refer to: * Senior (name), a surname ...

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 District of Hawaii The United States District Court for the District of Hawaii (in case citations, D. Haw.) is the principal trial court of the United States Federal Court System in the state of Hawaii. The court's territorial jurisdiction encompasses the st ...

Early life and education

Born in

Wheeling, West Virginia Wheeling is a city in Ohio County, West Virginia, Ohio and Marshall County, West Virginia, Marshall counties in the U.S. state of West Virginia. The county seat of Ohio County, it lies along the Ohio River in the foothills of the Appalachian Mo ...

, Seabright 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 ...

degree from

Tulane University The Tulane University of Louisiana (commonly referred to as Tulane University) is a private research university in New Orleans, Louisiana, United States. Founded as the Medical College of Louisiana in 1834 by a cohort of medical doctors, it b ...

in 1981 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 ...

from

George Washington University Law School The George Washington University Law School (GW Law) is the law school of George Washington University, a Private university, private research university in Washington, D.C. Established in 1865, GW Law is the oldest law school in Washington, D. ...

in 1984.

Career

Seabright was in private practice in Hawaii from 1984 to 1987. He was 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

District of Columbia Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly known as Washington or D.C., is the capital city and Federal district of the United States, federal district of the United States. The city is on the Potomac River, across from ...

from 1987 to 1990, and then held the same office in the

District of Hawaii The United States attorney for the District of Hawaii is the chief law enforcement officer representing the federal government in the United States District Court for the District of Hawaii and principal authority of the United States Department of ...

from 1990 to 2005, becoming a supervisory assistant United States attorney in 2001. He was an

adjunct professor An adjunct professor is a type of academic appointment in higher education who does not work at the establishment full-time. The terms of this appointment and the job security of the tenure vary in different parts of the world, but the term is gen ...

at the

William S. Richardson School of Law The William S. Richardson School of Law is the professional graduate law school of the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa. Located in Honolulu, Hawaii, the school is named after its patriarch, former Hawaii State Supreme Court Chief Justice Will ...

of the

University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa The University of Hawaii at Mānoa is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Honolulu, Hawaii, United States. It is the flagship campus of the University of Hawaiʻi system and houses the main offic ...

in 1999, 2000, and 2002.

Federal judicial service

On February 14, 2005, President

George W. Bush George Walker Bush (born July 6, 1946) is an American politician and businessman who was the 43rd president of the United States from 2001 to 2009. A member of the Bush family and the Republican Party (United States), Republican Party, he i ...

nominated Seabright to a seat on the

vacated by Judge

Alan Cooke Kay Alan Cooke Kay (July 5, 1932 – July 30, 2024) was a United States district judge of the United States District Court for the District of Hawaii. Education and career Kay was born on July 5, 1932, in Honolulu, Hawaii. He attended Princeton Univ ...

. Seabright was confirmed by 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 ...

on April 27, 2005, and received his commission on April 28, 2005. He became chief judge on November 6, 2015 when

Susan Oki Mollway Susan Naomi Oki Mollway ( Oki; born November 6, 1950) is a senior United States district judge of the United States District Court for the District of Hawaii and the first woman of East Asian descent and Japanese-American woman ever appointed to ...

assumed senior status and served until November 6, 2022. Seabright assumed senior status on January 30, 2024.

References

Sources

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Seabright, John Michael 1959 births Living people Assistant United States attorneys George Washington University Law School alumni Judges of the United States District Court for the District of Hawaii Lawyers from Wheeling, West Virginia Tulane University alumni United States district court judges appointed by George W. Bush William S. Richardson School of Law faculty