Adalberto Jordan

Adalberto Jose Jordan (born December 1961) is a Appeals Court Judge for the United States Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit. Jordan was confirmed by the United States Senate to the Eleventh Circuit on February 15, 2012 in a 94–5 vote.^[1] He received his judicial commission on February 17, 2012.^[2]

Jordan is also an adjunct professor at the University of Miami School of Law, his alma mater, and at Florida International University's College of Law.^[3]

Early life and education

Jordan was born in Havana, Cuba, and came with his family to Miami, Florida when he was a young boy, in 1968.

Jordan graduated from St. Brendan High School in 1980.^[4] He received a B.A. in politics, magna cum laude, from the University of Miami, in 1984.^[5] While an undergraduate at the University of Miami, Jordan was a walk-on member of the baseball team.^[6] Jordan then earned his J.D., summa cum laude, from the University of Miami School of Law in 1987, graduating second in his law school class. Jordan went on to clerk for Judge Thomas Alonzo Clark on the Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals in Atlanta, Georgia from 1987 to 1988, and for Justice Sandra Day O'Connor on the United States Supreme Court from 1988 to 1989.^[7]

Professional career

In 1989, Jordan returned to Miami, Florida, to work as an associate for Steel, Hector & Davis, a prestigious local law firm that was acquired by Squire, Sanders & Dempsey in 2005. Despite being there a relatively short time, Jordan was named a partner at Steel, Hector & Davis by his fifth year. Shortly after making partner, Jordan made the transition to public-sector lawyering, and became an Assistant United States Attorney for the Southern District of Florida in 1994.^[7] In 1998, he was appointed Chief of the Appellate Division, and served in that position for about one year.

Federal judicial service

On March 15, 1999, President Bill Clinton nominated Jordan to the seat on the United States District Court for the Southern District of Florida that had been vacated by Judge Lenore Carrero Nesbitt.^[7] Jordan was confirmed to the federal bench by the U.S. Senate on September 8, 1999, by a vote of 93-1, with then-Senator Robert C. Smith of New Hampshire as the lone dissenting vote. Jordan received his commission on September 9, 1999.

Nomination to the 11th Circuit

In May 2011, the South Florida Daily Business Review reported that Jordan was being vetted by the Federal Bureau of Investigation in anticipation of President Obama nominating Jordan to a judicial vacancy on the United States Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit that had been created after 11th Circuit Judge Susan H. Black took senior status in February 2011. ^[8][9]

On August 2nd, 2011, President Barack Obama officially nominated Jordan for the judgeship. On October 13th, 2011 the Senate Judiciary Committee approved his nomination by voice vote^[10].

On February 9, 2012, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid motioned to invoke cloture on Jordan's nomination, thereby cutting off debate and ending a Republican filibuster of Jordan's nomination.^[11] A cloture vote was held for February 13, 2012.^[12] Cloture was invoked in an 89–5 vote.^[13]

On February 15, 2012, the United States Senate confirmed Jordan to the seat on the Eleventh Circuit in a 94–5 vote.^[14] Jordan received his judicial commission on February 17, 2012.^[15]

Personal

Jordan's wife, Esther Jordan, has been a longtime teacher at St. Brendan High School, which the couple both attended.^[16]

References

External links

• Adalberto Jordan at the Biographical Directory of Federal Judges, a public domain publication of the Federal Judicial Center.
• Florida Bar profile