Vijay Shanker

Vijay Shanker is a Washington, D.C. lawyer who is a nominee to be a Judge of the District of Columbia Court of Appeals.

Education
Shanker earned his Bachelor of Arts, cum laude, from Duke University and his Juris Doctor from the University of Virginia School of Law where he served as a Notes Editor for the Virginia Law Review and was inducted into the Order of the Coif.

Career
After graduating, Shanker served as a law clerk to Judge Chester J. Straub of the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit. He joined the United States Department of Justice in 2005, and currently serves as Senior Litigation Counsel in the criminal division and as Deputy Chief of the Appellate Section. He was previously in private practice with the Washington, D.C., offices of Mayer Brown and Covington & Burling.

Nomination to District of Columbia Court of Appeals
On June 25, 2020, President Trump nominated Shanker to be a Judge of the District of Columbia Court of Appeals to the seat vacated by Judge John R. Fisher, who retired on August 22, 2020. On January 3, 2021, his nomination was returned to the President under Rule XXXI, Paragraph 6 of the United States Senate. His nomination was resubmitted later that same day. His nomination was referred to the United States Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs.