Nancy Maldonado

Seventh Circuit
	Court of Appeals
Judgeships
	Posts: 11
	Judges: 11
	Vacancies: 0
Judges
	Chief: Diane Sykes
	Active judges: Michael B. Brennan, Frank Easterbrook, Candace Jackson-Akiwumi, Thomas L. Kirsch II, Joshua Kolar, John Z. Lee, Nancy Maldonado, Doris Pryor, Michael Scudder, Amy St. Eve, Diane Sykes; Senior judges:; William Bauer, David Hamilton, Daniel Manion, Kenneth Ripple, Ilana Rovner, Diane Wood

Nomination Tracker
Nominee Information
	Name: Nancy Maldonado
	Court: United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit
Progress
	Confirmed 132 days after nomination.
	Nominated: February 27, 2024
	ABA Rating: Well Qualified
	Questionnaire: Questionnaire
	Hearing: March 20, 2024
	Hearing Transcript: Hearing Transcript
	QFRs: (Hover over QFRs to read more)
	Reported: April 18, 2024
	Confirmed: July 8, 2024
	Vote: 47-43

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Nancy Maldonado is a judge on the United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit. She was nominated to the court by President Joe Biden (D) on February 27, 2024, and confirmed by the United States Senate on July 8, 2024, by a vote of 47-43.^[1]^[2] To see a full list of judges appointed by Joe Biden, click here.

The United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit is one of 13 U.S. courts of appeal. They are the intermediate appellate courts of the United States federal courts. To learn more about the court, click here.

Prior to joining the United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit, Maldonado was a judge on the United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois. She was nominated to the court by President Joe Biden (D) on April 25, 2022, and confirmed by the United States Senate on July 19, 2022, by a vote of 53-45.^[3]^[4]

Prior to joining the United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois, Maldonado was a partner at Miner, Barnhill & Galland, P.C. in Chicago, Illinois.^[5]

Judicial nominations and appointments

United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit (2024-present)

See also: Federal judges nominated by Joe Biden

On February 27, 2024, President Joe Biden (D) nominated Maldonado to the United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit.^[4] Maldonado received commission on July 11, 2024.^[2] To read more about the federal nominations process, click here.

Confirmation vote

The U.S. Senate confirmed Maldonado by a vote of 47-43 on July 8, 2024.^[1] To see a full breakdown of the vote on the official U.S. Senate website, click here.

Maldonado confirmation vote (July 8, 2024)
Party	Yea	Nay	No vote
Democratic	45	0	2
Republican	0	41	8
Independent	2	2	0
Total	47^[6]	43	10

Senate Judiciary Committee hearing

The Senate Judiciary Committee held hearings on Maldonado's nomination on March 20, 2024. The committee voted to advance Maldonado's nomination to the full Senate on April 18, 2024.^[4] Click here for a list of other nominees awaiting a committee vote.

Nomination

On February 27, 2024, President Joe Biden (D) nominated Maldonado to the United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit.^[4]

The American Bar Association (ABA) rated Maldonado Well Qualified.^[7] To read more about ABA ratings, click here.

Maldonado was nominated to replace Judge Ilana Rovner, who will assume senior status upon the commission of her successor.^[8]

United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois (2022-2024)

See also: Federal judges nominated by Joe Biden

On April 25, 2022, President Joe Biden (D) nominated Maldonado to the United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois.^[3] Maldonado received commission on August 10, 2022.^[9] To read more about the federal nominations process, click here.

Confirmation vote

The U.S. Senate confirmed Maldonado by a vote of 53-45 on July 19, 2022.^[4] To see a full breakdown of the vote on the official U.S. Senate website, click here.

Maldonado confirmation vote (July 19, 2022)
Party	Yea	Nay	No vote
Democratic	47	0	1
Republican	4	45	1
Independent	2	0	0
Total	53	45	2

Senate Judiciary Committee hearing

The Senate Judiciary Committee held hearings on Maldonado's nomination on May 11, 2022. The committee voted to advance Maldonado's nomination to the full Senate on June 9, 2022.^[4]

Nomination

Maldonado received an official nomination for the United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois on April 25, 2022. She was nominated to replace Judge Matthew Kennelly, who assumed senior status on October 7, 2021.^[3]

The American Bar Association rated Maldonado well qualified by a majority and qualified by a minority.^[10] To read more about ABA ratings, click here.

Biography

Early life and education

Maldonado was born in 1975 in Skokie, Illinois.^[11] She earned an A.B., cum laude, from Harvard College in 1997 and a J.D. from Columbia Law School in 2001.^[5]

Professional career

2024-Present: Judge, United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit
2022-2024: Judge, Northern District of Illinois
2003-2022: Miner, Barnhill & Galland, P.C., Chicago, Illinois
- 2010-2022: Partner
- 2003-2010: Associate
2001-2003: Law clerk, Judge Ruben Castillo, United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois^[5]

Awards and associations

Awards

2007: Mentor of the Year, Hispanic Lawyers' Association of Illinois

Associations

American Bar Association
ARISE Legal Advisory Board
Chicago Bar Association
Chicago Lawyers' Committee for Civil Rights
Hispanic Lawyers' Association of Illinois Judiciary Committee
Hispanic National Bar Association
Illinois State Police Merit Board
Latina Commission
National Employment Lawyers' Association^[11]

About the court

United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit

The United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit is a federal appellate court with appellate jurisdiction. It hears appeals from all of the circuit courts within its jurisdiction and its rulings may be appealed to the Supreme Court of the United States.

Appeals are heard in the Everett M. Dirksen Federal Building in downtown Chicago.

Three judges of the Seventh Circuit went on to serve on the Supreme Court of the United States. Sherman Minton was appointed to the Supreme Court in 1949 by Harry Truman (D), John Paul Stevens was appointed in 1975 by Gerald Ford (R), and Amy Coney Barrett was appointed in 2020 by Donald Trump (R).

The Seventh Circuit has appellate jurisdiction over cases heard in one of its subsidiary districts. These cases can include civil and criminal matters that fall under federal law. Appeals of rulings by the Seventh Circuit are petitioned to the Supreme Court of the United States. Justice Amy Coney Barrett is the circuit justice for the Seventh Circuit.

The United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit has appellate jurisdiction over the courts in the following districts:

To read opinions published by this court, click here.

United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois

Northern District of Illinois
Seventh Circuit

Judgeships
Posts: 23
Judges: 23
Vacancies: 0
Judges
Chief: Virginia Kendall
Active judges: Georgia Alexakis, Jorge L. Alonso, John Robert Blakey, Edmond E. Chang, Sharon Coleman, Jeffrey Cummings, Jeremy Daniel, Robert Dow, Sara Lee Ellis, Sunil Harjani, LaShonda A. Hunt, Lindsay Jenkins, Iain David Johnston, Virginia Kendall, John Kness, Martha Pacold, April Perry, Mary Rowland, Steven Seeger, Manish Shah, John Tharp Jr., Franklin Ulyses Valderrama, Andrea R. Wood Senior judges: Marvin Aspen, Elaine Bucklo, Suzanne Conlon, Thomas M. Durkin, Robert Gettleman, Joan Gottschall, Ronald Guzman, Frederick Kapala, Matthew Kennelly, Charles Kocoras, Joan Lefkow, George Marovich, Charles Norgle, Rebecca Pallmeyer, Philip Reinhard, James Zagel

The United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois is one of 94 United States district courts. The district operates out of Chicago and Rockford, Illinois. When decisions of the court are appealed, they are appealed to the United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit located in the same courthouse as the Northern District of Illinois in Chicago.

The Northern District of Illinois has original jurisdiction over cases filed within its jurisdiction. These cases can include civil and criminal matters that fall under federal law.

There are two court divisions, each covering the following counties:

The Eastern Division, covering Cook, DuPage, Grundy, Kane, Kendall, Lake County, LaSalle, and Will counties

The Western Division, covering Boone, Carroll, DeKalb, Jo Daviess, Lee, McHenry, Ogle, Stephenson, Whiteside, and Winnebago counties

To read opinions published by this court, click here.

The federal nomination process

Federal judges are nominated by the president of the United States and confirmed by the Senate. There are multiple steps to the process:

The president nominates an individual for a judicial seat.
The nominee fills out a questionnaire and is reviewed by the Senate Judiciary Committee.
The Senate Judiciary Committee holds a hearing with the nominee, questioning them about things like their judicial philosophy, past rulings or opinions, etc.

As part of this process, the committee sends a blue slip to senators from the home state in which the judicial nomination was received, allowing them to express their approval or disapproval of the nominee.

After the hearing, the Senate Judiciary Committee will vote to approve or return the nominee.

If approved, the nominee is voted on by the full Senate.
If the Committee votes to return the nominee to the president, the president has the opportunity to re-nominate the individual.

The Senate holds a vote on the candidate.

If the Senate confirms the nomination, the nominee receives a commission to serve a lifelong position as a federal judge.
If the Senate does not confirm the nomination, that nominee does not become a judge.

External links

Suggest a link

Footnotes

Political offices
Preceded by Ilana Rovner	United States Court of Appeals for the 7th Circuit 2024-Present	Succeeded by -
Preceded by Matthew Kennelly	United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois 2022-2024	Succeeded by April Perry