Phila. Judge Younge, K&L Gates Partner Ranjan Nominated to District Judgeships

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Photo: Shutterstock[/caption] Among a slate of federal judicial nominations put forward by President Donald Trump on Friday were two for Pennsylvania: Philadelphia Court of Common Pleas Judge John Milton Younge was renominated to a district court judgeship in the Eastern District, and Nicholas Ranjan of K&L Gates was nominated for the Western District. Ranjan, reached for comment Friday afternoon, said, “I’m really honored to be nominated,” and referred to Sen. Pat Toomey's office or the Justice Department for any further comment.A call to Younge's chambers was not returned Friday. It's not the first ride for Younge, who was first nominated to the Eastern District in 2015 by President Barack Obama. He, and four other candidates for district court vacancies, were endorsed by both U.S. Sens. Toomey, a Republican, and Bob Casey, a Democrat, after they pledged to take a cooperative, bipartisan approach to federal judicial nominations. But neither Younge nor the other three nominees under Obama made it through, as Senate Republicans stalled the confirmation process. Under the new presidential administration, Obama’s nominations became void. But two of the four nominees, U.S. Magistrate Judge Susan Paradise Baxter and Butler County Court of Common Pleas Judge Marilyn Jean Horan, were renominated earlier this year by Trump, and now Younge joins them. Younge, sitting since 1996 and twice re-elected, has had a hand in many notable cases over the course of his judicial career. Recently, in civil litigation against U-Haul stemming from a fatal 2014 food truck explosion in Philadelphia, Younge ruled that the manager at the U-Haul facility who filled the propane tank that eventually exploded needed to at least attend the deposition and be asked questions before asserting his Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination in a possible corresponding criminal case. Weeks earlier, Younge ruled against moving a civil suit against Walmart over claims that it negligently sold ammunition to a drunken 20-year-old who later used it in a fatal shooting spree out of Philadelphia, to either Lehigh or Northampton counties. Ranjan, a litigator and equity partner in the firm's Pittsburgh headquarters, has been with the firm since 2005 and was director of its pro bono program. He is a graduate of Grove City College and the University of Michigan Law School, and prior to joining K&L Gates clerked for Judge Deborah L. Cook of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit. In one recent litigation success of note, Ranjan helped convince the Third Circuit last year to wipe out a $1.1 million award of attorney fees awarded by a District of Delaware judge as part of a settlement in a class action against invention-promotion company Davison Design & Development Inc. Meanwhile, two other Pennsylvania lawyers are awaiting confirmation after being nominated to federal judicial vacancies. Joshua Wolson, a partner at Dilworth Paxson, appeared Wednesday before the Senate Judiciary Committee, after being nominated to fill a vacancy on the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania. And David Porter, a partner at Buchanan Ingersoll & Rooney in Pittsburgh, is still awaiting confirmation to the Third Circuit after his early June hearing before the committee.