Todd Sunhwae Kim is an American attorney who served as the

United States Assistant Attorney General Many of the divisions and offices of the United States Department of Justice (DOJ) are headed by an assistant attorney general. The president of the United States appoints individuals to the position of assistant attorney general with the adv ...

for the

United States Department of Justice Environment and Natural Resources Division The United States Department of Justice Environment and Natural Resources Division (ENRD) is one of seven litigating components of the United States Department of Justice, U.S. Department of Justice. ENRD's mandate is to enforce civil and crimin ...

from 2021 to 2025. He earlier served as the first solicitor general of the District of Columbia for nearly 12 years. He was twice nominated by 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 ...

for the District of Columbia Court of Appeals, but the Senate held no hearings on his nominations, which expired without action.

Early life and education

Kim was born and raised in

New Jersey New Jersey is a U.S. state, state located in both the Mid-Atlantic States, Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern United States, Northeastern regions of the United States. Located at the geographic hub of the urban area, heavily urbanized Northeas ...

. He graduated ''magna cum laude'' 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 ...

in 1997, where he was an executive editor of the ''

Harvard Law Review The ''Harvard Law Review'' is a law review published by an independent student group at Harvard Law School. According to the ''Journal Citation Reports'', the ''Harvard Law Review''s 2015 impact factor of 4.979 placed the journal first out of ...

'', and received his undergraduate degree, ''magna cum laude'', in biology from

Harvard College Harvard College is the undergraduate education, undergraduate college of Harvard University, a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. Part of the Harvard Faculty of Arts and Scienc ...

in 1994. After law school, he served as a law clerk to

Judith W. Rogers Judith Ann Wilson Rogers (born July 27, 1939) is a senior United States circuit judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit. Early life and career Judith Ann Wilson was born on July 27, 1939, in New York Cit ...

on the

United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit The United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit (in case citations, D.C. Cir.) is one of the thirteen United States Courts of Appeals. It has the smallest geographical jurisdiction of any of the U.S. courts of appeals, ...

Professional career

Kim served for seven years as an appellate attorney for the

Solicitor general for the District of Columbia

Kim was the first solicitor general of the District of Columbia, serving from 2006 to 2017. He was appointed by

Attorney General In most common law jurisdictions, the attorney general (: attorneys general) or attorney-general (AG or Atty.-Gen) is the main legal advisor to the government. In some jurisdictions, attorneys general also have executive responsibility for law enf ...

Robert J. Spagnoletti to be responsible for all of the District's appellate litigation before the

District of Columbia Court of Appeals The District of Columbia Court of Appeals is the highest court of the District of Columbia, the capital city of the United States. The court was established in 1942 as the Municipal Court of Appeals, and it has been the court of last resort ...

, the

, and the

Supreme Court of the United States The Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) is the highest court in the federal judiciary of the United States. It has ultimate appellate jurisdiction over all Federal tribunals in the United States, U.S. federal court cases, and over Stat ...

. In 2017, his final year as solicitor general, Kim argued on behalf of the District in the Supreme Court in ''District of Columbia v. Wesby''.

DC Court of Appeals nomination

In February 2014, President

nominated Kim to a seat on the

, but his nomination was not acted upon. On April 30, 2015, President Obama re-nominated Kim to the position, but the Senate did not take action on that nomination either.

Private practice

In January 2018, he became a partner in

Reed Smith Reed Smith LLP is a global law firm with more than 1,500 lawyers in 30 offices throughout the United States, Europe, the Middle East and Asia. History Reed Smith was founded in Pittsburgh in 1877 by Philander C. Knox and James H. Reed. The tw ...

's appellate practice. He left the firm in January 2021, joining the Biden administration as a deputy general counsel at the U.S. Department of Energy.

Biden administration

On March 15, 2021, it was announced that 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 ...

would nominate Kim to serve as

Assistant Attorney General Many of the divisions and offices of the United States Department of Justice (DOJ) are headed by an assistant attorney general. The president of the United States appoints individuals to the position of assistant attorney general with the adv ...

for the

. On April 14, 2021, a hearing on his 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 May 13, 2021, his nomination was reported out of committee by a 15–7 vote. On July 27, 2021, the Senate confirmed Kim in a 58–41 vote. Kim was sworn in on July 28.

Personal life

On February 22, 2004, Kim appeared as the first contestant on a short-run ''

Who Wants to Be a Millionaire ''Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?'' (WWTBAM) is an international television game show franchise of Who Wants to Be a Millionaire? (British game show), British origin, created by David Briggs, Mike Whitehill and Steven Knight. In its format, cu ...

'' spin-off game show called ''

Who Wants to Be a Super Millionaire ''Who Wants to Be a Millionaire'' (colloquially referred to as simply ''Millionaire'') is an American television game show based on the format of the same-titled British program created by David Briggs, Steven Knight and Mike Whitehill and deve ...

'', where he won $500,000. Kim decided to walk away from his $1,000,000 question. Kim is married to Carolyn Hill; they have two sons. Todd Kim Opening Statement
Confirmation Hearing. Senate Judiciary Committee. April 14, 2021.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kim, Todd 1970s births Living people Year of birth missing (living people) American jurists of Korean descent Biden administration personnel Contestants on American game shows Harvard College alumni Harvard Law School alumni Lawyers from Washington, D.C. Solicitors general of the District of Columbia United States assistant attorneys general for the Environment and Natural Resources Division