TRANSCRIPT: Majority Leader Schumer Remarks At Senate Judiciary Committee Introducing Arun Subramanian, Nominee For District Judge For The Southern District Of New York
Washington, D.C. – Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) today spoke before the Senate Judiciary Committee introducing Arun Subramanian, nominated by President Biden to serve as District Judge for the Southern District of New York. Below are Senator Schumer’s remarks:
I want to thank you, Chairman Durbin. I want to thank Ranking Member Grassley, and all the members of the Committee for the opportunity to come before you and introduce a truly outstanding nominee to the federal bench, Arun Subramanian.
Soon, you will learn why Mr. Subramanian would make an outstanding jurist and I’m confident you will join me and President Biden in understanding precisely why he is uniquely qualified as a fit for the Southern District.
If confirmed, Mr. Subramanian will be the first, the first, South Asian judge in the Southern District of New York, which has a significant South Asian population.
Arun was born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, in 1979. His parents immigrated to America from India in the early 1970s with little money and no connections. His father served as a control systems engineer at several companies; his mother worked several jobs, including as a bookkeeper.
Arun graduated summa cum laude from Case Western Reserve University in 2001 with a bachelor’s degree in computer science and English. Three years later, he earned his law degree from Columbia Law School as a James Kent & Harlan Fiske Stone Scholar. He also served as executive articles editor for the Columbia Law Review.
Arun is a steadfast consumer protection expert. He currently serves as a partner with Susman Godrey where he’s spent his career defending consumers and individuals injured by unfair and illegal practices, including public entities and whistleblowers. He’s also defended victims of trafficking in child pornography.
Among his victories include securing more than $400 million for state and federal governments through a lawsuit connected to Novartis Pharmaceuticals; gaining $590 million in settlements from LIBOR in an ongoing price-fixing class action; and achieving a $100 million judgment in a federal residential mortgage-backed securities case against Flagstar Bank after the crisis of 2008.
He has plenty of experience in the federal court system, serving as a law clerk to Judge Dennis Jacobs on the Second Circuit Court, Judge Gerard Lynch in the Southern District of New York, and the late Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg of Brooklyn, New York.
He was also appointed by Chief Justice John Roberts to serve on the court’s Advisory Committee for the Federal Rules of Evidence.
Arun’s colleagues, including judges for whom he’s clerked, attorneys he’s worked with and against, hold him in the highest regard. Those who were consulted as part of my search committee’s exhaustive review process described him as a fantastic person and one of the finest lawyers many of them have ever worked with. He is renowned for his brilliant legal mind and sound judgment and is unanimously viewed as someone who would be a strong addition to the Southern District bench.
In short, our courts need more people like Arun Subramanian.
I have been proud to work with many of you over the last two years in advancing nominees who are not only qualified but also break the pattern of nominees we’ve grown accustomed to for so long. Together the Senate has confirmed more people of color, more women, and more nominees from unique backgrounds than perhaps under any Administration.
In the years to come, we will continue maintaining a laser-like focus on bringing balance and impartiality back to our courts. We have more work to do, but I am proud of the progress we have made.
So I want to thank Arun for being here, I want to congratulate him on his nomination, and thank my colleagues, and my fellow witnesses here, for letting me speak right now.
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