Allison Jones Rushing
President Donald Trump announced Monday that he intends to nominate North Carolinian Allison Jones Rushing to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit.
She would replace Judge Allyson Kay Duncan, who is expected to take senior status, a form of semi-retirement. Duncan celebrated her 15th year of service on the court this year.
Rushing, 36, is from East Flat Rock and currently serves as a partner at Williams & Connolly LLC in Washington D.C. There, her practice focuses on appellate matters, constitutional issues and regulatory challenges, according to Trump’s announcement.
Ms. Rushing is widely viewed as one of the best young appellate lawyers in the country: Legal 500 has praised Ms. Rushing for her “excellent writing advocacy skills,” The National Law Journal has recognized her stellar oral advocacy in the Federal courts of appeals, and Super Lawyers has recognized her as one of its “Rising Stars.” Ms. Rushing has argued before Federal courts of appeals and state appellate courts, in addition to briefing cases before the U.S. Supreme Court.
Rushing received her undergraduate degree from Wake Forest University and then went on to graduate from Duke University School of Law. She then clerked for then-Judge Neil Gorsuch when he served on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit; Judge David Sentelle of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit and Associate Justice Clarence Thomas of the U.S. Supreme Court.
Rushing did not return an email Wednesday seeking comment about her nomination.
The Trump administration has confirmed 26 appellate judges and 26 federal district court judges. Trump nominated Thomas Farr last year to fill the nation’s longest running federal judicial vacancy, located in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of North Carolina. His confirmation remains pending.