THE WHITE HOUSE

Office of the Press Secretary

PRESIDENT NAMES FOUR TO SERVE ON THE FEDERAL BENCH

The President today announced his intention to nominate the following four individuals as federal judges: H. Lee Sarokin to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit; Blanche M. Manning to the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois; Lewis A. Kaplan to the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York; and William F. Downes to the U.S. District Court for the District of Wyoming.

"These individuals will bring excellence to the federal bench," the President said. "Each has an outstanding record of achievement in the legal community."

H. Lee Sarokin, 65, is currently a U.S. District Judge in Newark, New Jersey. Appointed to the federal bench in 1979 by President Carter, he is a board member and executive committee member of the Federal Judges Association. In 1993, Sarokin was named chair of the National Conference of Federal Judges. Previously, he practiced law as an associate and then a partner for the firm of Lasser, Lasser, Sarokin & Hockman and taught real estate law at Rutgers University.

Born in Perth Amboy, New Jersey, Mr. Sarokin earned his bachelor's degree from Dartmouth College and his law degree from Harvard Law School. He and his wife, Marjorie Sarokin, live in Morristown, New Jersey.

The fourteen judges on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit hear cases from Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Delaware, and the U.S. Virgin Islands.

Blanche M. Manning, 59, has served on the Illinois Appellate Court since 1987. Before joining that bench, she served on the Circuit Court of Cook County. She also worked as an Assistant U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Illinois, as an attorney for United Airlines, and as a trial attorney for the U.S. Equal Opportunity Commission. She graduated from Chicago Teachers College and John Marshall Law School, and earned an M.A. from Roosevelt University and a LL.M. from the University of Virginia. She and her husband, William Manning, live in Chicago.

Lewis A. Kaplan, 49, is currently a partner at Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison in New York City, where he concentrates in antitrust, securities, and complex civil litigation. He is also a trustee of the Lawyers' Committee for Civil Rights Under Law. A graduate of the University of Rochester and Harvard Law School, Mr. Kaplan served as a law clerk to Judge Edward McEntee of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the First Circuit. He and his wife, Nancy Gelberg Kaplan, have a daughter and live in Irvington, New York.

William F. Downes, 47, is a managing partner at Brown & Drew in Casper, Wyoming, where he practices civil litigation. Previously, he was with the firm of Clark & Downes. He also served in the United States Marine Corps and is a graduate of the University of Texas and the University of Houston Law Center. He and his wife, Catherine Downes, have three children and live in Casper, Wyoming.

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