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Floor Speech
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Mr. DURBIN. Mr. President, today, the Senate will vote to confirm Georgia Alexakis to the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois.
Born in Chicago, IL, Ms. Alexakis earned her A.B., magna cum laude, from Harvard College and her J.D., magna cum laude, from Northwestern Pritzker School of Law. Following law school, she clerked for Judge Marsha S. Berzon of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit and Judge Milton I. Shadur of the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois.
Ms. Alexakis began her legal career in private practice handling breach of contract claims, tax disputes, and product liability matters. In 2013, she became an assistant U.S. attorney in the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Northern District of Illinois. In her first 4 years with the USAO, she served in the General Crimes and Narcotics and Money Laundering Sections, handling all aspects of criminal investigations and prosecution, discovery, and all trial stages. In 2019, she became the deputy chief of appeals, maintaining her investigative and trial work while supervising other prosecutors on appellate briefs and oral argument preparations. She also served as the civil rights and hate crimes program coordinator during this time. She returned to private practice in 2022 as partner with Riley Safer Holmes & Cancila LLP. Later that year, she returned to the USAO as the chief of appeals in the Criminal Division.
Over the course of her legal career, Ms. Alexakis has tried 10 cases to verdict, 8 of which were in Federal court, and has argued approximately 30 appeals in the Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals. The American Bar Association unanimously rated Ms. Alexakis as ``well qualified,'' and she has the strong support of myself and Senator Duckworth.
Ms. Alexakis's courtroom experience, management credentials, and knowledge of the Northern District make her well-positioned to serve on the bench with distinction.
I was proud to recommend Ms. Alexakis to the White House, and I urge my colleagues to join me in supporting her nomination.
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