Photo courtesy of Kirkland & Ellis LLP 

On July 9, 2019, the United States Senate confirmed President Donald Trump’s nomination of attorney Daniel Aaron Bress to serve as a judge of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit. Senators gave their consent by a vote of 53-45.

Judge Bress was nominated to the court on February 6, 2019. After his appearance before the Senate Judiciary Committee on May 22, 2019, his nomination was reported to the Senate floor on June 20, 2019.

Prior to his appointment to the bench, Judge Bress had been a partner at the law firm of Kirkland & Ellis LLP in Washington, D.C., since 2011. Before joining Kirkland as an associate in 2008, Judge Bress was an associate at Munger, Tolles & Olson LLP in San Francisco from 2007 to 2008.

Born in Hollister, California, Judge Bress received his J.D., Order of the Coif, in 2005 from the University of Virginia School of Law, where he was editor-in-chief of the Virginia Law Review from 2004 to 2005. He received his A.B. from Harvard College, magna cum laude, in 2001. Following law school, he clerked for Judge J. Harvie Wilkinson, III, of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit, from 2005 to 2006, and for Justice Antonin Scalia of the U.S. Supreme Court from 2006 to 2007.

Judge Bress served as an adjunct professor of law for the University of Virginia School of Law in Charlottesville in the winter of 2009, 2010 and 2011, and as an adjunct professor of law for Columbus School of Law in Washington, D.C., in the fall of 2016 and in the spring of 2019.

Student reactions:

“During my semester in Professor Bress’ class, I had the opportunity to learn from a lawyer who pushed me to think outside the box. The discussions that took place in our class forced me to question my own beliefs, and challenge the views of my peers. In my opinion, my time in Professor Bress’ class prepared me to enter the fast pace world which is a legal career on Capitol Hill.” - Richie LaMura '19

“Learning from Professor Bress was one of the best parts of last semester. I know that the Ninth Circuit has gained an incredible mind. It’s going to be really interesting to watch him apply the theories of Textualism that we learned in class to his opinions as a Judge! During his confirmation hearing, the senators even asked him about some of the Textualism concepts that we talked about in class. I have no doubt that he is prepared for his new role, but CUA will miss him!” - Rebecca Schisler (3L)