Andy Oldham

Andrew Stephen Oldham (born 1978)^[1] is a United States Circuit Judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit and former General Counsel to Texas Governor Greg Abbott.

Biography[]

Oldham received his Bachelor of Arts from the University of Virginia with highest honors, a Truman Scholarship for graduate school, a Master of Philosophy, first class (with distinction), from the University of Cambridge, and a Juris Doctor, magna cum laude, from Harvard Law School in 2005.

Before entering private practice, Oldham served as a law clerk to Judge David B. Sentelle of the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit and to Associate Justice Samuel Alito of the Supreme Court of the United States, where he was a co-clerk with Michael H. Park.^[2] He also worked as an attorney-adviser in the Office of Legal Counsel at the United States Department of Justice from 2006 to 2008, as part of President George W. Bush's administration.^[2]

He then served as an attorney at Kellogg, Hansen, Todd, Figel & Frederick in Washington, D.C.^[2] His practice focused on appellate litigation in federal courts of appeals throughout the country. Prior to that he served in the Office of the Solicitor General of Texas as Deputy Solicitor General, where he represented Texas in federal courts across the country.^[3] In 2015, Oldham wrote an amicus curiae brief in support of Abbott's successful challenge of President Barack Obama's Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals executive order.^[2]

Prior to becoming a judge, he served as General Counsel to Governor of Texas Greg Abbott,^[3][4] where he advised the Governor on a range of issues under federal and state law and managed litigation in which the Governor is an interested party.^[5] Abbott appointed Oldham to replace Jimmy Blacklock, who left to take a seat on the Supreme Court of Texas.^[3]

Federal judicial service[]

On February 12, 2018, President Donald Trump announced his intent to nominate Oldham to an undetermined seat on the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit. On February 15, 2018, his nomination was sent to the Senate. President Trump nominated Oldham to the seat vacated by Judge Edward C. Prado, who had been confirmed as the next United States Ambassador to Argentina.^[3] On April 25, 2018, a hearing on his nomination was held before the Senate Judiciary Committee.^[6] On May 24, 2018, his nomination was reported favorably by the Senate Judiciary Committee with a vote of 11–10.^[7] On July 17, 2018, the Senate voted 50–49 to invoke cloture on his nomination.^[8] On July 18, 2018, his nomination was confirmed by the United States Senate by a vote of 50–49.^[9] He received his judicial commission on July 19, 2018.

Academic career[]

Oldham has been an adjunct Professor at the University of Texas School of Law since 2019.^[10] He teaches courses on Federal Courts and Habeas corpus.

Memberships[]

He has been a member of the Federalist Society since 2002.^[11]

See also[]

• List of law clerks of the Supreme Court of the United States

References[]

External links[]

• Andy Oldham at the Biographical Directory of Federal Judges, a public domain publication of the Federal Judicial Center.
• Appearances at the U.S. Supreme Court from the Oyez Project
• Andrew Oldham at Ballotpedia