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THE WHITE HOUSE

Office of the Press Secretary


For Immediate Release February 28, 2000

PRESIDENT CLINTON NOMINATES GERARD E. LYNCH AND NICHOLAS G. GARAUFIS

TO THE FEDERAL BENCH

The President today nominated Gerard E. Lynch to the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York, and Nicholas G. Garaufis to the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York.

Gerard E. Lynch, of New York, New York, has been the Paul J. Kellner Professor of Law at Columbia Law School since 1996, where he rose from the ranks of Assistant Professor (1977-1980) and Associate Professor (1980-1986). In addition to teaching, Lynch was a Vice Dean for Columbia Law School from 1992 to 1997, and since 1992, he has been a part-time Counsel with Howard, Darby & Levin, now the New York office of Covington & Burling. Lynch has also devoted considerable time to government service; he worked as Chief of the Criminal Division of the United States Attorney's Office for the Southern District of New York from 1990 to 1992; as Associate Counsel for the Office of Independent Counsel from 1988 to 1990; and as an Assistant United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York from 1980 to 1983. Lynch received his B.A. degree, summa cum laude, from Columbia College in 1972, and his J.D. degree from Columbia Law School in 1975. Following law school, he clerked for the Hon. Wilfred Feinberg of the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit from 1975 to 1976, and the Hon. William J. Brennan, Jr., of the United States Supreme Court from 1976 to 1977.

Nicholas G. Garaufis, of Bayside, New York, has been Chief Counsel for the Federal Aviation Administration since 1995. Prior to joining the FAA, Garaufis was Chief Legal Counsel to the President of the Borough of Queens, New York from 1986 to 1995. He was a private practitioner in New York from 1979 to 1986. Garaufis also worked as Counsel to the Hon. James H. Scheuer from 1983 to 1985, and as an Assistant Attorney General for the New York State Department of Law from 1975 to 1979. He began his legal career as an associate with Chadbourne, Parke, Whiteside & Wolff from 1974 to 1975. Garaufis received his A.B. degree from Columbia College in 1969, and his J.D. degree from Columbia Law School in 1974.

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