The United States Senate on December 17 confirmed two Michigan judges, including Indian American Shalina D Kumar, nominated for the federal bench by President Joe Biden.
Senators voted 44-22 to approve Oakland County Circuit Court Chief Judge Shalina D. Kumar, the first federal judge of Indian American and South Asian descent in Michigan.
“Judge Kumar and Judge Beckering are two outstanding and highly qualified women,” said US Sen. Debbie Stabenow, D-Lansing, in a statement. “Their confirmation is great news for Michigan.”
“Judge Kumar is a respected Chief Judge of the Oakland County Sixth Circuit Court, and I know she will continue her excellent work as a federal judge,” Senator Stabenow stated.
“Judge Kumar is an accomplished jurist whose appointment breaks barriers as the first Michigander of South Asian descent to serve on the federal bench in our state,” Senator Peters noted.
President Joe Biden, on June 30, nominated Judge Kumar to serve as the District Court judge to the Eastern District of Michigan.
Kumar served the Oakland County Sixth Circuit Court since 2007, and in January 2018, she was appointed as the Chief Judge of the Circuit Court by the Michigan Supreme Court.
During her tenure in the bench, Kumar served as a presiding judge of the Adult Treatment Court, the chairperson of the Oakland County Criminal Assignment Committee, the bench liaison to the Oakland County Bar Association Circuit Court Committee, a member of the Michigan State Bar Professionalism Committee, and a member of the Executive Committee of the Michigan Judges’ Association, said the release.
Prior to taking the bench, Judge Kumar was a civil litigator in private practice from 1997 to 2007, including as an associate with Weiner & Cox P.L.C. from 2004 to 2007, and Sommers, Schwartz, Silver & Schwartz P.C. from 2000 to 2004. She graduated from the University of Michigan in 1993 and the University of Detroit-Mercy School of Law in 1996.
