Caitlin Halligan
Circuit Court Nominee Profile
Caitlin Halligan is nationally respected litigator with extensive appellate experience before the US Supreme Court, the US Circuit Courts of Appeal, and in the New York state judicial system. She currently serves as General Counsel to the New York County District Attorney’s Office. NCJW believes that Caitlin Halligan should be confirmed to US Circuit Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia.
Nomination Status
Press Release
Nominee Record
Caitlin Halligan was nominated by President Obama to a seat on the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit on September 29, 2010 and re-nominated on January 5, 2011, when the Senate failed to act on her nomination. She was approved by the Senate Judiciary Committee on March 10, 2011, by a vote of 10 to 8, and her nomination was sent to the full Senate for a vote.
December 1, 2011
NCJW Calls on Senate to Confirm Caitlin Halligan
Caitlin Halligan graduated from Princeton University in 1988 and from Georgetown University Law Center in 1995. She served as law clerk to DC Circuit Court Judge Patricia Wald from 1995 -1996, and to Supreme Court Justice Stephen Breyer during the 1997-1998 term. She joined the New York Attorney General’s Office in 1999, where as the first chief of its Internet Bureau, she developed and coordinated statewide law enforcement and policy initiatives regarding online consumer fraud, privacy, online securities trading, and other Internet-related issues. She became the Solicitor General of New York State in October 2001 and served in that position until January 2007.
From 2007 to 2010, Halligan was a partner with Weil, Gotshal & Manges, LLP in New York until she returned to public service as General Counsel to the New York County District Attorney’s Office. She has served as counsel of record in over 50 cases before the Supreme Court, of which she has argued five.
Halligan now teaches at Columbia University Law School and previously taught at Georgetown University Law Center. She lectures widely on legal topics regarding appellate advocacy, US Supreme Court matters, and legal issues arising in cyberspace. She also serves on the New York State Bar’s Special Committee on Civil Rights.
Prior to attending law school, Halligan was a legislative aide for US Rep. William Alexander (D-AR) and a policy associate at Georgians for Children, a nonprofit organization devoted to improving state policies for families and children. She also taught writing, American history, and American literature at a university in Wuhan, China, through the Princeton-In-Asia Teaching Exchange.