WASHINGTON– United States President Joe Biden has announced that he would nominate Zahid Quraishi, a Pakistani-American, for the U.S District Court for the District of New Jersey.
If confirmed by the Senate, Quraishi would also be the first Muslim-American federal judge in U.S. history.
Zahid Quraishi, a Rutgers Law School graduate who currently serves as a U.S. magistrate judge, is one of Biden’s first 10 nominations to the federal courts that placed heavy emphasis on his stated goal of promoting diversity across the government.
President Biden picked nine women and two men for his first crop of judicial nominees. “This trailblazing slate of nominees draws from the very best and brightest minds of the American legal profession,” Biden said in a statement.
“Each is deeply qualified and prepared to deliver justice faithfully under our Constitution and impartially to the American people — and together they represent the broad diversity of background, experience, and perspective that makes our nation strong.”
Prior to his appointment, Quraishi was a partner at Riker Danzig where he chaired the firm’s White Collar Criminal Defence and Investigations Group and served as his firm’s first Chief Diversity Officer.
Before joining Riker Danzig, Judge Quraishi served as an Assistant U.S. Attorney in the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of New Jersey from 2008 to 2013.
