[Congressional Record Volume 168, Number 26 (Wednesday, February 9, 2022)]
[Senate]
[Pages S607-S608]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]



                   Nomination of Leonard Philip Stark

  Mr. DURBIN. Mr. President, this week, the Senate will vote to confirm 
Judge Leonard Stark to serve on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 
Federal Circuit.
  Judge Stark is an exceptional and experienced jurist. For the past 14 
years, he has served the District of Delaware--first, as a magistrate 
judge and, since 2010, as a district court judge.
  He has presided over 6,000 civil and criminal cases, including 2,400 
patent matters and 63 patent trials.
  This experience will be of particular importance on the Federal 
Circuit for two reasons. First, unlike the 12 other courts of appeals, 
the Federal Circuit has a specialized jurisdiction; it hears all of the 
Nation's patent appeals. Second, Judge Stark would replace the only 
active judge on the court who has previously served as a trial judge. 
This makes his extensive background as a trial judge especially 
valuable.
  Judge Stark brings with him considerable experience serving on 
Federal appeals panels. He has sat, by designation, on the Third and 
Federal Circuits, where he heard 54 appeals and authored 11 unanimous 
opinions. Before joining the bench, Judge Stark served as an Assistant 
U.S. Attorney for the District of Delaware for 4 years. He worked as a 
litigation associate at an international law firm. And he clerked on 
the Third Circuit.
  Judge Stark earned his bachelor of arts, bachelor of science, and 
master of arts simultaneously at the University of Delaware. He was 
awarded the prestigious Rhodes Scholarship and received a doctorate in 
philosophy from the University of Oxford. He also holds a J.D. from 
Yale Law School. With such impressive credentials, it is clear why the 
American Bar Association rated Judge Stark unanimously as ``Well 
Qualified'' to sit on the Federal Circuit.
  His expertise in adjudicating patents combined with his experience 
hearing appeals will be an asset to the Federal Circuit and to our 
industrious, inventive Nation. I will be voting for Judge Stark's 
confirmation, and I urge my colleagues to join me.

[[Page S608]]

  

                          ____________________