Preceded by Alice Batchelder Appointed by Bill Clinton | Preceded by Nathaniel Jones Name R. Cole, | |
Born May 23, 1951 (age 72)
Birmingham, Alabama, U.S. ( 1951-05-23 ) Alma mater Tufts University
Yale University Education Yale Law School, Tufts University | ||
Ransey Guy Cole Jr. (born May 23, 1951) is the chief judge of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit.
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Early life and education
Cole was born in Birmingham, Alabama and attended Cheshire Academy in Connecticut. He earned a bachelor's degree from Tufts University in 1972 and a law degree from Yale Law School in 1975.
Professional career
Cole worked as a lawyer in private practice with the firm Vorys, Sater, Seymour and Pease in Columbus, Ohio from 1975 until 1978. Upon joining the firm in 1975, he was just the second African-American at the firm, and in 1983, he became its first African-American partner. He joined the U.S. Department of Justice and worked as a trial attorney in the commercial litigation branch of the DOJ's Civil Division from 1978 until 1980. He then transitioned back into private practice at Vorys Sater from 1980 until 1986. Cole became a U.S. Bankruptcy Judge for the Southern District of Ohio from 1987 until 1993. He returned to private practice in Columbus at Vorys Sater from 1993 until becoming an appeals court judge in 1995.
Federal judicial service
President Clinton nominated Cole to a seat on the Sixth Circuit on June 29, 1995, to replace retiring Judge Nathaniel R. Jones. Although Republicans controlled the U.S. Senate at that time, Cole's nomination was considered uncontroversial. The U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee unanimously recommended Cole's confirmation on October 26, 1995. The full Senate unanimously confirmed Cole in a voice vote on December 22, 1995.
Cole was elevated to be the Sixth Circuit's chief judge on August 15, 2014, succeeding Chief Judge Alice M. Batchelder.