The White House announced two nominees to fill seats on the Third Circuit Court of Appeals. They are Paul Matey of New Jersey and David Porter of Pennsylvania.
Matey is currently senior vice president and general counsel of University Hospital in Newark. He is a graduate of the University of Scranton and Seton Hall School of Law, where he was editor in chief of the Seton Hall Law Review. He then clerked for United States District Court Judge John Lifland and Third Circuit Judge Robert Cowen. Matey then went into private practice at the Washington, DC firm of Kellogg Huber. After two years there, he became an Assistant United States Attorney in the District of New Jersey, working under then-United States Attorney Chris Christie. Finally, before joining University Hospital, Matey served then-Governor Christie as senior counsel and then deputy chief counsel.
Porter has been in private practice at the Pittsburgh office of Buchanan, Ingersoll & Rooney for over twenty years, handling complex litigation of various sorts. Before that, he clerked for then-District Judge (now Chief Judge of the Third Circuit) D. Brooks Smith. Porter is a graduate of Grove City College and George Mason University Law School (now known as Antonin Scalia Law School). He was an editor of the George Mason University Law Review.
Senator Robert Casey (D-PA) has indicated opposition to the Porter nomination. Whether the Senate will honor the opposition of a home state Senator as in the past remains to be seen.