Indian-American Vijay Shanker is among three dozen nominations by the White House for various roles, which will be sent to the Senate for confirmation.
Shanker has been nominated to be an associate judge of the District of Columbia Court of Appeals for a term of 15 years. If he is confirmed by the Senate, he will replace John R Fisher, who is retired.
The District of Columbia Court of Appeals is the highest judicial body in the court system for the District of Columbia and deals only with cases arising within Washington. It is separate from the federal court system.
Shanker is currently the Deputy Chief of the Appellate Section of the Criminal Division at the Justice Department. He is serving Senior Litigation Counsel in the Criminal Division's Fraud Section, where he investigates and prosecutes violations of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act and related offenses and advises attorneys and leadership on a range of legal issues and litigation matters.
From October 2012 to February 2014, Shanker served in the Office of the Assistant Attorney General for the Criminal Division, first as Senior Counsel and then as Acting Deputy Chief of Staff and Counselor to the Assistant Attorney General.
Shanker received his Bachelor of Arts degree in public policy studies, cum laude, from Duke University. He received his law degree from the University of Virginia School of Law, where he was named to the Order of the Coif and served as a Notes Editor on the Virginia Law Review.
