LEGAL NEWSLINE

WASHINGTON (Legal Newsline) -- President Barack Obama has nominated David Jeremiah Barron, a Harvard Law professor, to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the First Circuit.

Obama announced the nomination Tuesday.

"David Jeremiah Barron has displayed exceptional dedication to the legal profession through his work, and I am honored to nominate him to serve the American people as a judge on the United States Court of Appeals," the President said in a statement.

"He will be a diligent, judicious and esteemed addition to the First Circuit bench."

Currently, Barron is the S. William Green Professor of Public Law at Harvard Law School.

He previously served as the acting assistant attorney general of the Office of Legal Counsel at the U.S. Department of Justice.

Barron earned his undergraduate degree from Harvard College. After graduating, he worked as a reporter for the News and Observer in Raleigh, N.C., from 1989 to 1991. In 1994, he earned his law degree from Harvard Law School.

Barron worked as an attorney-adviser in the DOJ's Office of Legal Counsel from 1996 to 1999.

He then joined the Harvard Law faculty as an assistant professor in 1999 and became a professor in 2004.

In 2009, while on leave from his faculty position, Barron rejoined the Office of Legal Counsel as acting assistant attorney general.

He returned to Harvard Law in 2010 and then was named the S. William Green Professor of Public Law in 2011.

Recently, he was appointed by Massachusetts Gov. Deval Patrick to the state's Board of Higher Education and the Massachusetts State College Building Authority.

Also Tuesday, Obama nominated Mark Mastroianni and Indira Talwani to the U.S. District Court for the District of Massachusetts.

Mastroianni is the district attorney for Hampden County. Talwani is a partner at Segal Roitman LLP in Boston.

"These individuals have demonstrated the talent, expertise and fair-mindedness Americans expect and deserve from their judicial system," Obama said.

"I am grateful for their willingness to serve and confident that they will apply the law with the utmost impartiality and integrity."

From Legal Newsline: Reach Jessica Karmasek by email at jessica@legalnewsline.com.