Obama nominates Pryor to appeals court

By Bill Rankin and Daniel Malloy

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

President Barack Obama on Thursday nominated Atlanta lawyer Jill Pryor to serve on the federal appeals court and fill a vacancy that has stood since August 2010.

If confirmed by the U.S. Senate, Pryor would serve on the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Atlanta, which has jurisdiction over federal cases out of Georgia, Alabama and Florida. She would fill the vacancy created by Stanley Birch of Atlanta, an appointee of President George H.W. Bush who retired from the court.

In a statement, Obama said Pryor "has displayed exceptional dedication to the legal profession through her work and I am honored to nominate her. ... She will be a diligent, judicious and esteemed addition to the 11th Circuit bench."

Pryor is a partner at Bondurant, Mixson & Elmore law firm and specializes in complex business litigation. She obtained her law degree in 1988 from Yale Law School. She previously clerked for 11th Circuit Judge J.L. Edmondson.

Pryor serves on the State Bar of Georgia's Board of Governors and is a board member for the Georgia Legal Services Program. She is a past president of the Georgia Association for Women Lawyers.

The question now is whether Pryor can be confirmed by the Senate, because her nomination will need the approval of Georgia's two Republican senators, Saxby Chambliss and Johnny Isakson. Last month, they wrote the White House and said they would not block Pryor if she was nominated for a U.S. District Court judgeship. They said their preference for the 11th Circuit vacancy was Atlanta lawyer Mark Cohen of the Troutman Sanders law firm.

On Thursday, spokeswomen for Chambliss and Isakson declined to comment on the nomination, saying the senators do not speak about pending judicial nominees.