Raymond Kethledge
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Raymond M. Kethledge (born 1966 in Summit, New Jersey) is a current nominee to the United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit. He is an attorney in Michigan with the law firm of Bush, Seyferth, Kethledge & Paige.
[edit] Background
Kethledge graduated from the University of Michigan with a B.A. in 1989. He began law school at Wayne State University in 1990, but graduated magna cum laude from the University of Michigan Law School in 1993. Kethledge then clerked for Sixth Circuit Judge Ralph B. Guy, Jr. in 1994. After finishing his clerkship, he became judiciary counsel to Michigan Senator Spencer Abraham from 1995-1997. Following that, Kethledge clerked for United States Supreme Court Justice Anthony Kennedy in 1997.
In 1998, Kethledge joined the law firm of Honigman, Miller, Schwartz & Cohn, first as an associate, and then, in 2001, as a partner. That year, he left to become counsel to the Ford Motor Company. In 2002, he joined Feeney, Kellet, Weinner & Bush as a partner, and then became partner at Bush, Seyferth, Kethledge & Paige in 2003.
[edit] Sixth Circuit nomination
Kethledge was first nominated to the Sixth Circuit by President George W. Bush on June 28, 2006 to replace Judge James Leo Ryan. However, that nomination lapsed when the 109th Congress adjourned in December 2006. Bush again nominated Kethledge on March 19, 2007. However, his nomination stalled for over a year due to opposition from Michigan's two Democratic Senators, Carl Levin and Debbie Stabenow.
In April 2008, the Bush Administration struck a deal with Levin and Stabenow to break the logjam on judicial nominees to federal courts in Michigan. In exchange for Levin and Stabenow supporting Kethledge's nomination (and that of United States Attorney Stephen J. Murphy III to a district court position), Bush nominated Democratic judge Helene White, a failed former Clinton nominee to the Sixth Circuit. Soon afterwards, Kethledge, White and Murphy were granted a joint hearing before the Senate Judiciary Committee on May 7, 2008.
