Arun Subramanian becomes 1st Indian-American judge to serve in New York District court

Indian-origin attorney Arun Subramanian has achieved a special feat by becoming the first Indian-American to become the Judge of the Manhattan Federal District Court of New York. The US Senate Judiciary Committee confirmed this development through its official Twitter handle saying that the Indian-origin attorney has been directly engaged in "every aspect" of civil litigation.

"He’s been directly engaged in every aspect of civil litigation and has clerked at every level of the federal judiciary," the Senate Judiciary Committee said in a tweet, adding that Arun Subramanian is also the first person of South Asian origin to serve the bench.

Notably, earlier in September 2022, US President Joe Biden announced the nomination of Subramanian for the District Court of the Southern District of New York. 

Who is Arun Subramanian? 

According to Senate Majority Leader Senator Chuck Schumer, Arun was born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, in 1979. "His parents immigrated to America from India in the early 1970s with little money and no connections. His father served as a control systems engineer at several companies; his mother worked several jobs, including as a bookkeeper," Schumer said before the Senate Judiciary Committee during Arun's confirmation hearing on December 13. 

In 2004, Subramanian received his JD from Columbia Law School and his BA from Case Western Reserve University in 2001.

Subramanian, who has been a partner at Susman Godfrey LLP in New York since 2007, worked as a law clerk for three judges: Judge Dennis Jacobs on the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit from 2004 to 2005; Judge Gerard E. Lynch on the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York from 2005 to 2006; and Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg on the Supreme Court of the United States from 2006 to 2007.

According to Schumer, Subramanian is a steadfast consumer protection expert who has also defended victims of trafficking in child pornography.

(With inputs from agencies)