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THE WHITE HOUSE

                     Office of the Press Secretary
                         (St. Louis, Missouri)
________________________________________________________________________
For Immediate Release                                   January 26, 1999

                        THE PRESIDENT NOMINATES
                     SEVENTEEN TO THE FEDERAL BENCH

The President today resubmitted to the Senate the following 12 individuals, each of whom was nominated to the federal bench during the 105th Congress. The President also submitted five new nominations to the Senate.

Renominations

Helene White, Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit Ronald Gould, Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit Barry P. Goode, Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit Marsha Berzon, Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit Richard Paez, Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit Timothy Dyk, Federal Circuit
Matthew F. Kennelly, Northern District of Illinois William J. Hibbler, Northern District of Illinois Virginia A. Phillips, Central District of California Lynette Norton, Western District of Pennsylvania Legrome D. Davis, Eastern District of Pennsylvania Ronnie White, Eastern District of Missouri

New Nominations

Barbara Durham, Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit Stefan R. Underhill, District of Connecticut Gary A. Feess, Central District of California T. John Ward, Eastern District of Texas Keith P. Ellison, Southern District of Texas

Helene White, Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit

Helene White, of Detroit, Michigan, received her A.B. from Barnard College in 1975 and her J.D. from the University of Pennsylvania Law School in 1978. Following law school, she clerked for Michigan Supreme Court Justice Charles L. Levin from 1978 to 1980. She served as a Judge on the Common Pleas Court for the City of Detroit (now the 36th District Court) from 1981 to 1983. From 1983 to 1993, White was a Judge on the Wayne County Circuit Court. She has been a judge on the Michigan Court of Appeals since January 1993.

Ronald Gould, Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit (Washington)

Ronald Gould, of Mercer Island, Washington, received his B.S. from the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania (1968), and his J.D. from the University of Michigan Law School (1973). Following law school, he clerked for Sixth Circuit Judge Wade McCree, Jr., and then for Supreme Court Justice Potter Stewart. Gould has been an associate, then partner, at Perkins Coie in Seattle, Washington from 1975 to the present.

Barry P. Goode, Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit

Barry P. Goode, of Richmond, California, received his A.B. and Phi Beta Kappa from Kenyon College (1969), and his J.D. from Harvard Law School (1972). He served two years as Special Assistant to Senator Adlai E. Stevenson, III, before joining the San Francisco law firm of McCutchen, Doyle, Brown & Enersen in 1974, where he is a partner.

Marsha Berzon, Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit

Marsha Berzon, of Berkeley, California, received her B.A. from Radcliffe College in 1966, and her J.D. from Boalt Hall School of Law in 1973. Following law school, she clerked for Ninth Circuit Judge James Browning (1973-74), and Justice William Brennan (1974-75). She then practiced at the Washington, D.C. firm of Woll & Meyer from 1975 to 1977. Since 1978, Berzon has been with the firm of Altshuler, Berzon, Nussbaum, Berzon & Rubin.

Richard Paez, Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit

Richard Paez, of Los Angeles, California, earned his B.A. from Brigham Young University in 1969 and his J.D. from Boalt Hall School of Law in 1972. Following Law School, Paez worked as a Staff Attorney for the California Rural Legal Services from 1972 to 1974 and for the Western Center on Law and Poverty from 1974 to 1976. He then served as Senior Counsel, Director of Litigation and Acting Executive Director and Director of Litigation for the Legal Aid Foundation of Los Angeles from 1976 to 1981. From 1981 to 1994 he served as a judge on the Los Angeles Municipal Court. Paez was appointed by President Clinton to the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California in July 1994.

Timothy Dyk, Federal Circuit

Timothy Dyk, of Washington, DC, received his B.A. from Harvard College in 1958 and his L.L.B. from Harvard Law School in 1961. He then clerked for Justices Reed and Burton (1961-62), and Chief Justice Warren (1962-63). He has been a private practitioner since 1964, first with Wilmer, Cutler & Pickering, and with Jones, Day, Reavis & Pogue since 1990, where he is a partner and chairman of the Issues and Appeals Section of the Washington office.

Matthew F. Kennelly, Northern District of Illinois

Matthew F. Kennelly, of Evanston, Illinois, received his undergraduate degree in 1978 from the University of Notre Dame and his law degree in 1981 from Harvard Law School. From 1981 to 1982, Kennelly was an associate with the law firm of Hedlund, Hunter & Lynch. He then clerked for the Honorable Prentice Marshall of the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois from 1982 to 1984. Kennelly has been an associate, partner and shareholder at the law firm of Cotsirilos, Stephenson, Tighe & Streicker, Ltd. since 1984.

William J. Hibbler, Northern District of Illinois

William J. Hibbler, of Richton Park, Illinois, received his undergraduate degree in 1969 from the University of Illinois at Chicago and received his law degree in 1973 from DePaul University. From 1973 to 1977, and again from 1981 to 1986, he worked as an Assistant State's Attorney with the Cook County State's Attorney Office. Hibbler was a partner in Belmonte, Kagen, Hibbler & DePalma from 1977 to 1981. He has served as an Associate Judge on the Cook County Circuit Court since 1986. In addition, since 1989, Judge Hibbler has served as an Adjunct Professor teaching Trial Advocacy at the Chicago/Kent College of Law.

Virginia A. Phillips, Central District of California

Virginia A. Phillips, of Riverside, California, received a B.A. degree from the University of California at Riverside in 1979 and a J.D. degree from the University of California, Boalt Hall School of Law in 1982. She was an associate (1982-88) and partner (1988-91) with the law firm of Best, Best and Krieger. Phillips was a Superior Court Commissioner for the Riverside Superior Court from 1991 to 1995. She has served as a U.S. Magistrate Judge for the Central District of California since 1995.

Lynette Norton, Western District of Pennsylvania

Lynette Norton, of Stahlstown, Pennsylvania, received her B.A. from Indiana University of Pennsylvania in 1969 and her J.D. from Duquesne University School of Law in 1978. She was a law clerk to the Honorable Maurice Cohill of the United States District Court for the Western District of Pennsylvania from 1978 to 1980. Norton has been in private practice since 1980, most recently as a partner in the law firm of Picadio, McCall, Kane & Norton since 1990. In addition, Norton served as an Adjunct Professor at Duquesne University School of Law from 1990 to 1996.

Legrome D. Davis, Eastern District of Pennsylvania

Legrome D. Davis, of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, received his undergraduate degree in 1973 from Princeton University and his law degree in 1976 from Rutgers Camden School of Law. From 1977 to 1980, and again from 1981 to 1987, Davis worked in the Philadelphia District Attorney's Office first as an Assistant District Attorney and then as Assistant Deputy District Attorney. He was also an attorney with the Pennsylvania Crime Commission from 1980 to 1981. In 1987, Davis served first as an attorney with the office of General Counsel for the University of Pennsylvania and then as an associate with the law firm of Ballard, Spahr, Andrews & Ingersoll. He has served on the Court of Common Pleas for the First Judicial District of Pennsylvania since 1987.

Ronnie White, Eastern District of Missouri

Ronnie White, of St. Louis, Missouri, received his A.A. degree from St. Louis Community College in 1977, his B.A. degree from St. Louis University in 1979, and his J.D. from the University of Missouri in 1983. He was an Assistant Public Defender for the City of St. Louis from 1984 to 1987 and was in private practice from 1987 to 1994. He has been a judge on the Missouri Supreme Court since 1994.

Barbara Durham, Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit

Barbara Durham, of Seattle, Washington, received a B.S.B.A. degree from Georgetown University in 1964 and a J.D. degree from Stanford University Law School in 1968. From 1968 to 1970, she was a Deputy Prosecuting Attorney in the Office of the King County Prosecuting Attorney in Seattle. From 1970 to 1973, Durham was an associate attorney with the firm of Wacker & Durham. She then served as a part-time associate with the firm of Kempton, Savage & Gossard from 1973 to 1976 and as a part-time Judge with the Mercer Island District Court from 1973 to 1977. From 1977 to 1979, she was a Judge with the King County Superior Court, and from 1980 to 1985, she served as a Judge with the Court of Appeals for the State of Washington. Since 1985, Durham has served as a Justice with the Supreme Court of the State of Washington, and as its Chief Justice since 1995.

Stefan R. Underhill, District of Connecticut

Stefan R. Underhill, of Fairfield, Connecticut, received a B.A. degree in 1978 from the University of Virginia, a B.A. from Merton College of Oxford University in 1981, and a J.D. degree in 1984 from Yale University. After working as a summer associate in 1984 for the firm of Goodwin, Procter & Hoar, Underhill worked as a law clerk for the Honorable Jon O. Newman of the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit from 1984 to 1985. Since 1985, Underhill has been in practice with the firm of Day, Berry & Howard, LLP, first as an associate and then as a partner.

Gary A. Feess, Central District of California

Gary A. Feess, of South Pasadena, California, received a B.A. degree in 1970 from Ohio State University and a J.D. degree in 1974 from the UCLA Law School. After law school, Feess worked as an associate first with the law firm of McKenna & Fitting from 1974 to 1975, and then with Jones Day Reavis & Pogue from 1976 to 1979. From 1979 to 1987, and again from 1988 to 1989, Feess worked with the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Central District of California as an Assistant U.S. Attorney, Chief Assistant U.S. Attorney, and Interim U.S. Attorney. He was a partner at Jones Day Reavis & Pogue from 1987 to 1988 and again from 1989 to 1992. He then served as partner with the firm of Quinn Emanuel Urquhart & Oliver from 1992 to 1996. Since 1996, Feess has served as Judge on the Los Angeles Superior Court.

T. John Ward, Eastern District of Texas

T. John Ward, of Longview, Texas, received a B.A. degree in 1964 from Texas Tech University and an LL.B. degree in 1967 from Baylor University School of Law. After law school, Ward worked as a legislative draftsperson for the Texas Legislative Council from 1967 to 1968. In 1968 he served as an Assistant County Attorney for Lubbock County. He was then an associate first with the law firm of Phenix and Wilder from 1968 to 1969 and then with the Law Office of Otto A. Ritter in 1969. From 1969 to 1970, Ward was a partner at the law firm of Ward and Ross from 1969 to 1970 and with the firm of Sharp, Ward & Ross from 1971 to 1990. Since 1990, Ward has been a shareholder and officer of the law firm of Brown McCarrole & Oaks Hartline.

Keith P. Ellison, Southern District of Texas

Keith P. Ellison, of Houston, Texas, received a B.A. degree in 1972 from Harvard University, a B.A. degree in 1974 from Oxford University and a J.D. degree in 1976 from Yale Law School. After law school, Ellison clerked for the Honorable Skelly Wright of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the DC Circuit from 1976 to 1977. From 1977 to 1978, he clerked for the Honorable Harry Blackmun of the U.S. Supreme Court. Ellison was an associate and then a partner with the law firm of Conner & Winters from 1978 to 1984. He was a partner with the law firm of Mayor, Day & Caldwell from 1985 to 1986 and then with Baker & Botts, LLP from 1986 to 1994. He served as Of Counsel with the firm of Caddell & Conwell from 1994 to 1996. Since 1996, Ellison has been a sole practitioner in Houston.

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