Michael E. Farbiarz

Michael E. Farbiarz
Judge of the United States District Court for the District of New Jersey
Incumbent
Assumed office
May 5, 2023
Appointed byJoe Biden
Preceded byNoel Lawrence Hillman
Personal details
Born
Michael Etan Farbiarz

1973 (age 50–51)
New York City, New York, U.S.
EducationHarvard University (BA)
Yale University (JD)

Michael Etan Farbiarz (born 1973)[1] is an American lawyer from New Jersey who is the United States district judge of the United States District Court for the District of New Jersey.

Education

Farbiarz received a Bachelor of Arts from Harvard University in 1995 and a Juris Doctor from Yale Law School in 1999.[2]

Career

After graduating from law school, he served as a law clerk for then-Chief Judge Michael Mukasey of the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York from 1999 to 2000 and for Judge José A. Cabranes of the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit from 2000 to 2001. From 2001 to 2004, Farbiarz was an associate at Davis Polk & Wardwell in New York City. From 2004 to 2014, he served as an assistant United States attorney in the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Southern District of New York, including as co-chief of the terrorism and international narcotics unit from 2010 to 2014. From 2014 to 2016, Farbiarz was a senior fellow at the New York University School of Law. From 2016 to 2023, he served as general counsel of the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey.[2][3] He has taught courses at Columbia Law School and New York University School of Law.[1]

Notable cases

In 2001, Farbiarz prosecuted Mokhtar Haouari, who was convicted of conspiracy in a plot to bomb Los Angeles International Airport shortly before New Year's Day 2000.[4][5][6]

In 2009, Farbiarz prosecuted Somali pirates, including Abduwali Muse, who had seized the American container ship Maersk Alabama in the Indian Ocean.[7] The incident was portrayed in the 2013 film Captain Phillips.[8][9]

In 2010, Farbiarz was the lead prosecutor of eleven deep-cover Russian agents. Anna Chapman, a Russian living in New York, was one of the eleven prosecuted and was charged as a spy.[10]

Federal judicial service

Farbiarz was recommended by Senator Cory Booker.[11] On December 22, 2022, President Joe Biden announced his intent to nominate Farbiarz to serve as a United States district judge of the United States District Court for the District of New Jersey.[2] On January 3, 2023, his nomination was sent to the Senate. President Biden nominated Farbiarz to the seat vacated by Judge Noel Lawrence Hillman, who assumed senior status on April 4, 2022.[12] On January 25, 2023, a hearing on his nomination was held before the Senate Judiciary Committee.[13] On April 20, 2023, his nomination was reported out of committee by a 17–4 vote.[14] On May 2, 2023, the United States Senate invoked cloture on his nomination by a 65–34 vote.[15] Later that day, his nomination was confirmed by a 65–34 vote.[16] He received his judicial commission on May 5, 2023.[17]

References

  1. ^ a b "Questionnaire for Judicial Nominees" (PDF). United States Senate Committee on the Judiciary. Retrieved January 24, 2023.
  2. ^ a b c "President Biden Names Twenty-Eighth Round of Judicial Nominees" (Press release). Washington, D.C.: The White House. December 21, 2022. Retrieved December 21, 2022. Public Domain This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain.
  3. ^ "PORT AUTHORITY NAMES NEW CORPORATE COUNSEL TO OVERSEE THE AGENCY'S LAW DEPARTMENT". www.panynj.gov. August 31, 2016. Retrieved December 21, 2022.
  4. ^ "LAX Bombing Plot Figure Is Convicted". Los Angeles Times. 2001-07-14. Archived from the original on 2023-01-17.
  5. ^ "Michael Farbiarz – Nominee to the U.S. District Court for the District of New Jersey". The Vetting Room. 2023-01-17. Retrieved 2023-01-28.
  6. ^ Phil Hirschkorn. "Man found guilty in millennium bomb plot against LAX - July 13, 2001". CNN.com. Retrieved 2023-01-28.
  7. ^ Wildstein, David (December 21, 2022). "Biden picks top Port Authority lawyer, Superior Court judge, as federal judges in N.J." New Jersey Globe.
  8. ^ "Navy SEALs Rescue Captain of the Maersk Alabama, April 12, 2009". SOFREP.
  9. ^ "Somalian Pirate Brought to U.S. to Face Charges for Hijacking the Maersk Alabama and Holding the Ship's Captain Hostage". FBI.
  10. ^ "Anna Chapman: Pictures of Suspected Russian Spy Surface". www.cbsnews.com. 29 June 2010.
  11. ^ Wildstein, David (December 21, 2022). "Biden picks top Port Authority lawyer, Superior Court judge, as federal judges in N.J." New Jersey Globe. Retrieved December 22, 2022.
  12. ^ "Nominations Sent to the Senate" (Press release). Washington, D.C.: The White House. January 3, 2023.
  13. ^ "Nominations". Washington, D.C.: United States Senate Committee on the Judiciary. January 24, 2023.
  14. ^ "Results of Executive Business Meeting – April 20, 2023" (PDF). United States Senate Committee on the Judiciary. Retrieved April 20, 2023.
  15. ^ "On the Cloture Motion (Motion to Invoke Cloture: Michael Farbiarz to be U.S. District Judge for the District of New Jersey)". United States Senate. May 2, 2023. Retrieved May 2, 2023.
  16. ^ "On the Nomination (Confirmation: Michael Farbiarz, of New Jersey, to be United States District Judge for the District of New Jersey)". United States Senate. May 2, 2023. Retrieved May 2, 2023.
  17. ^ Michael E. Farbiarz at the Biographical Directory of Federal Judges, a publication of the Federal Judicial Center.
Legal offices
Preceded by Judge of the United States District Court for the District of New Jersey
2023–present 		Incumbent