President Biden nominates Indian-American Sopen Shah as US Attorney

Washington,June 09: US President Joe Biden nominates Indian American Sopen B Shah as US attorney for the Western District of Wisconsin, which covers Madison. The nomination was sent to the Senate for confirmation Monday along with 4 other nominees to serve as US attorneys in different parts of the country.

"These are officials who will be indispensable to upholding the rule of law as top federal law enforcement officials."the White House said in a statement.

This step is a part of a larger effort to tackle the rise in gun crimes since 2020, the recent slew of gun violence, and mass shootings that have plagued the country in the last few weeks.

Biden's comprehensive plan includes adding more police officers, cracking down on illegal gun trafficking, and aiding community prevention programmes.

Shah has been a Counsel at Perkins Coie LLP since 2019. Previously, she argued the state’s high-profile criminal and civil appeals as deputy solicitor general of Wisconsin ( 2017 to 2019).

Sopen Shah has briefed appeals in the U.S. Supreme Court; the U.S. Courts of Appeals for the Ninth, Eighth, Seventh, Fourth, Second, First, D.C., and Federal Circuits; and the Wisconsin, New Hampshire, and Washington Supreme Courts. In 2020, she won the State Bar of Wisconsin's biennial “Best Brief” award. Sopen has argued in the Seventh and Second Circuits, the Wisconsin Supreme Court, the California Court of Appeal, and the Washington State Board of Tax Appeals.

Shah also handles high-stakes litigation in trial courts, including a voting rights case in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Wisconsin and a multimillion-dollar shareholder-dispute trial in Dane County Circuit Court.

She graduated from Yale Law School in 2015 and specialises in business litigation, and in appeals, issues, and strategy. Before Law school, Shah was a financial analyst at Bloomberg and a management consultant with McKinsey & Company.

If Shah's nomination is confirmed, she would be the second woman to lead the US Attorney's Office in Madison after Peg Lautenschlager, who was in the office during Bill Clinton's presidency from 1993 to 2001.