President Obama Nominates Two to Serve on the United States District Court

WASHINGTON, DC – Today, President Barack Obama nominated Judge Madeline Hughes Haikala and Gregory Howard Woods for District Court judgeships.

“I am pleased to nominate these distinguished individuals to serve on the United States District Court bench,” said President Obama.  “I am confident they will serve the American people with integrity and a steadfast commitment to justice.”

Judge Madeline Hughes Haikala:  Nominee for the United States District Court for the Northern District of Alabama
Judge Madeline Hughes Haikala has served as a United States Magistrate Judge in the Northern District of Alabama since 2012.  Previously, she was a partner at the law firm Lightfoot, Franklin & White LLC in Birmingham, Alabama, where she worked for 22 years.  In private practice, Judge Haikala handled a broad range of commercial litigation at both the trial and appellate levels, before both federal and state courts.  From 1998 to 2005, she taught Appellate Law at Cumberland School of Law as an adjunct professor.  Judge Haikala received her J.D. magna cum laude in 1989 from Tulane University Law School and her B.A. in 1986 from Williams College.

Gregory Howard Woods:  Nominee for the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York
Gregory Howard Woods is currently the General Counsel at the United States Department of Energy, having served in that position since his Senate confirmation in 2012.  From 2009 to 2012, he served as Deputy General Counsel at the United States Department of Transportation.  From 1998 to 2009, Woods worked at the law firm of Debevoise & Plimpton LLP in New York, where he became partner in 2004.  He began his legal career working as a trial attorney in the Civil Division of the United States Department of Justice from 1995 to 1998.  Woods received his J.D. in 1995 from Yale Law School and his B.A. magna cum laude in 1991 from Williams College.