| John J. Tharp, Jr. | |
|---|---|
| Personal details | |
| Born | Camp Lejeune, North Carolina |
| Alma mater | Duke University A.B. Northwestern University School of Law J.D. |
| Profession | Attorney |
John J. "Jay" Tharp, Jr. is a Chicago attorney and a nominee for District Judge for the United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois.
John J. Tharp, Jr. was born in Camp Lejeune, North Carolina.[1] He received his Artium Baccalaureus Degree, Summa cum Laude, from Duke University in 1982. Following his graduation, he served for five years in the United States Marine Corps as a commissioned officer, attaining the rank of Captain.[2] He received his Juris Doctorate, Magna cum Laude, from the Northwestern University School of Law in 1990. He served as a law clerk for Judge Joel Martin Flaum of the United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit from 1990 to 1991. He worked as an associate at Kirkland & Ellis from 1991 to 1992. He served as an assistant United States Attorney in the Northern District of Illinois from 1992 to 1997. Since 1997, he has been an associate and later partner at the law firm of Mayer Brown LLP. He is the co-chair of the Securities Litigation and Enforcement Practice at that firm.[3]
On July 31, 2008, President George W. Bush nominated Tharp to replace Mark Filip on the United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois.[4] The nomination was made with less than six months remaining in the Bush Presidency and was returned after not being acted upon by the 110th Congress.
On July 5, 2011, Senator Mark Kirk, an Illinois Republican, recommended to Barack Obama, a Democrat, that Tharp be appointed to the United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois.[5] The recommendation stems from a long-standing tradition in Illinois that, when the state is represented in the Senate by a Democrat and a Republican, the senator from the president's party gets to recommend candidates for two in every three judicial vacancies and the other senator chooses candidates for one in three.
On November 10, 2011, President Obama nominated John J. Tharp, Jr. to be a District Judge on the United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois.[6] He would replace Judge Blanche M. Manning who took senior status in 2010.