Jackson Walker proudly congratulates attorney Bethany Pickett Shah on her nomination by President Joe Biden to serve as a Republican member on the Board of Directors of the State Justice Institute.

The State Justice Institute is a non-profit corporation governed by an 11-member Board of Directors appointed by the President and confirmed by the United States Senate. The Institute is responsible for awarding federal grants to improve the quality of justice in state courts and foster innovative, efficient solutions to common issues faced by all courts. It distributes millions of dollars in grants every year to state courts and other non-profit organizations. By law, the President must appoint six state court judges, one state court administrator, and four members of the public (no more than two of whom may be of the same political party). If confirmed by the U.S. Senate, Mrs. Shah would assume the board seat of Judge John Nalbandian, who resigned when he was confirmed to be a judge on the United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit.

To learn more about the nomination, visit President Biden Announces Nominees.

Meet Bethany

Mrs. Shah specializes in complex commercial litigation, government investigations, and white-collar defense. Prior to private practice, she served as a Special Assistant United States Attorney in the Eastern District of Texas, where she represented the United States in criminal prosecutions and civil litigation. Before becoming a prosecutor, Mrs. Shah worked at the White House as Deputy Associate Counsel to the President and at the Department of Justice as a Counsel in the Civil Rights Division and Counsel in the Office of Legal Policy.

She is the recipient of several awards for her service to the United States, including the Attorney General’s Distinguished Service Award and the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Texas’s Dedicated Service Award. She has also been appointed by the judges of the Eastern District of Texas to serve on the district’s Magistrate Judge Merit Selection Panel. Mrs. Shah is a graduate of The King’s College and Northwestern University School of Law. After law school, she clerked for the Honorable Edith H. Jones of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit.