Preceded by Terence Kern | Name John Dowdell | |
Alma mater Wake Forest UniversityUniversity of Tulsa Education Wake Forest University, University of Tulsa College of Law | ||
John Edward Dowdell (born January 22, 1955) is a United States District Judge of the United States District Court for the Northern District of Oklahoma.
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Biography
Dowdell was born in Tulsa, Oklahoma, where he attended Bishop Kelley High School. He received his Bachelor of Arts degree in 1978 from Wake Forest University. He received his Juris Doctor in 1981 from the University of Tulsa College of Law. He served as a law clerk for Judge William Judson Holloway, Jr. of the United States Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit from 1981 to 1983. He joined the law firm of Norman, Wohlgemuth, Chandler & Dowdell, P.C., in Tulsa, Oklahoma, in 1983, becoming partner in 1987. He handles civil and criminal matters in both trial and appellate courts. Since 1999, he has served on a pro bono basis as an Adjunct Settlement Judge in the United States District Court for the Northern District of Oklahoma.
Federal judicial service
On February 29, 2012, President Obama nominated Dowdell to serve as a District Judge for the United States District Court for the Northern District of Oklahoma. He would replace Judge Terence C. Kern, who took senior status in 2010. The Senate Judiciary Committee held a hearing on his nomination on May 9, 2012 and reported his nomination to the floor on June 7, 2012.
On December 11, 2012, the Senate voted 95–0 to confirm Dowdell. He received his judicial commission on December 12, 2012.