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Floor Speech

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Mr. DURBIN. Madam President, today, the Senate will vote to confirm Noel Wise to the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California.

Born in Cherry Hill, NJ, Judge Wise earned her B.S. at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas in 1989; her J.D., cum laude, from Nova Southeastern University Law School in 1993; and her J.S.M. from Stanford Law School in 2002. After graduating from law school, Wise served as a law clerk to Justice Harry Lee Anstead on Florida's Fourth District Court of Appeals.

Between 1994 and 2002, Judge Wise served in various roles at the Department of Justice, including as a trial attorney in the environmental enforcement section from 1999 to 2002 and the environmental crimes section from 1998-1999; on detail as an assistant U.S. attorney from 1997 to 1998; and as an honors trial attorney from 1994 to 1997.

From 2002 to 2004, Judge Wise worked as of counsel at Stoel Rives, LLP, advising clients on civil and criminal environmental law, land use, energy, and grand jury inquisitions. She also litigated and settled civil and criminal cases in State and Federal court. From 2004 to 2006, Judge Wise worked first as in-house counsel and later as the acting director/manager renewable power generation at Pacific Gas and Electric Company, PG&E. Before her judicial service, Wise ran her own law firm--Wise Gleicher--from 2006 to 2014.

Since 2014, she has served as a judge on the Superior Court of California in Alameda County. During this decade of service, she has held several additional roles in the California judiciary, including working as a judge and supervising judge in the family law division; being a panel judge and supervising judge in the appellate division; and holding those same roles in the State's civil division.

Judge Wise has issued at least 10,000 written decisions that are substantive orders or appealable judgments. In addition, she has conducted approximately 500 settlement conferences, presided over thousands of hearings, and issued approximately 290 decisions while serving on the appellate division.

The American Bar Association unanimously rated Judge Wise as ``well qualified,'' and her nomination is strongly supported by her home State Senators, Mr. Padilla and Ms. Butler.

Judge Wise's judicial experience, coupled with her experience in public service and private practice, have prepared her to serve the Northern District of California honorably as a district judge.

I am proud to support her nomination.

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