Stephen Orlofsky

Stephen Orlofsky
Judge of the United States District Court for the District of New Jersey
In office December 26, 1995 – August 31, 2003
Appointed by	Bill Clinton
Preceded by	Dickinson Debevoise
Succeeded by	Peter G. Sheridan
Personal details
Born	June 24, 1944 The Bronx, New York, U.S.
Alma mater	City College of New York Rutgers School of Law–Camden
Military service
Allegiance	United States
Service/branch	United States Army
Years of service	1966–1970

Stephen Murray Orlofsky (born June 24, 1944) is an American lawyer, former U.S. district judge and a former nominee to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit.

Early life and education

Born in Bronx, N.Y., Orlofsky earned a bachelor's degree in 1965 from City College of New York and a law degree from Rutgers School of Law–Camden in 1974. He also served in the U.S. Army from 1966 until 1970, spending time in Vietnam.

Professional career

Orlofsky worked as a law clerk for U.S. District Judge Mitchell Cohen from 1974 until 1976, when he became a federal magistrate. He went into private practice in Cherry Hill Township, New Jersey from 1980 until 1995, when he became a U.S. district judge.

Nomination and confirmation to the United States District Court for the District of New Jersey

From 1976 until 1980, Orlofsky served as a magistrate judge for the United States District Court for the District of New Jersey in Camden, N.J.

On June 30, 1995, on the recommendation of U.S. Sen. Frank Lautenberg, President Clinton nominated Orlofsky to become a U.S. district judge for the United States District Court for the District of New Jersey. The U.S. Senate unanimously confirmed Orlofsky in a voice vote on December 22, 1995.

Nomination to the Third Circuit

On May 25, 2000, President Clinton nominated Orlofsky to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit to replace Judge Morton Ira Greenberg, who had announced plans to take senior status.^[1] "It has always been my dream since the day I started clerking for Judge (Mitchell H.) Cohen to be a federal judge," Orlofsky told the Philadelphia Inquirer in an article that was published on May 26, 2000. "And those things (judgeships) don't come along all the time." With Republicans in control of the Senate in the final year of Clinton's presidency, however, Orlofsky's nomination languished, never receiving a hearing before the U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee. Orlofsky's nomination to the Third Circuit was expired at the end of Clinton's presidency, and President Bush chose not to renominate him.^[2]

In March 2003, President Bush nominated Michael Chertoff to the Third Circuit to which Orlofsky had been nominated. Chertoff was confirmed by the U.S. Senate later that year.

Resignation and life after being a judge

On February 19, 2003, Orlofsky announced that he was retiring from the bench to return to private practice at his former firm, Blank Rome LLP.^[3] His resignation took effect on August 31, 2003.^[4] In an article that appeared in the Cherry Hill Courier-Post on February 20, 2003, Orlofsky told the paper that he wasn't bitter about being denied a spot on the Third Circuit. "I'm leaving for new professional challenges," he told the Courier-Post. "I love the interactions of lawyers, of witnesses and jurors. But I hate the tedium of guns-and-drug cases." He also told the paper that he hadn't gone looking for a new job. "The opportunity came up," he said.

See also

• Bill Clinton judicial appointment controversies

References

1. President Clinton Nominates Five to the Federal Bench, The White House - Office of the Press Secretary (June 30, 1995).
2. Statement of Senator Dianne Feinstein - Judicial Nominations
3. Blank Rome LLP Judge Stephen M. Orlofsky To Rejoin Blank Rome LLP Will Strengthen the Firm's Overall Commercial Litigation and Alternative Dispute Resolution Practices
4. Judges of the United States Courts

External links

• Stephen Orlofsky at the Biographical Directory of Federal Judges, a public domain publication of the Federal Judicial Center.
  
• Blank Rome profile