The Recorder interviewed Manatt’s Ben Shatz, co-chair of the firm’s appellate practice, for an article about the four vacancies in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit that will greet President-elect Trump when he takes office.
Shatz told the publication that he expects Trump to look beyond the “usual suspects” of sitting lower-court judges to fill the seats.
“I wouldn’t be surprised if Trump picked some practicing lawyers and I’d be surprised if they were dyed in the wool Republican party animals,” Shatz said. Although Trump’s list of potential U.S. Supreme Court nominees, released during the campaign, was populated by conservative judges bearing Federalist Society and Heritage Foundation approval, Shatz said he doesn’t expect Trump to be constrained in whom he considers for the lower courts.
“Once you have the power and you’re no longer trying to curry power—he can do what he wants,” Shatz said. “I wouldn’t necessarily use that list and that process as the template for what we will see over the next four years.”