Judiciary Watch

Senate confirms D'Agostino to N.D.N.Y.

The Senate confirmed Mae A. D'Agostino to the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of New York.  D’Agostino graduated Syracuse Univ. College of Law in 1980 and has been in private practice in Menands, NY since 1997.  From 1981 to 1997, she was with Maynard, O’Connor & Smith in Albany, NY.  She has been an Adjunct Professor of Trial Tactics and Medical Malpractice at Albany Law School since 1991.  D’Agostino’s private practice was in the area of defense litigation.

Senate confirms Battaglia, Shadid to district courts

The Senate yesterday confirmed Anthony J. Battaglia to the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of California and James E. Shadid as a U.S. District Judge for the Central District of Illinois.  Battaglia has been a Magistrate Judge in the Southern District of California since 1993.  He was in private practice in San Diego for almost 20 years prior to taking the bench, concentrating first on maritime personal injury cases and then products liability and third party negligence cases. 

Shadid has been a Circuit Court Judge in Peoria since 2001 and an Adjunct Faculty Member at Bradley Univ. since 2004.  From 1983 until 2001 Shadid was a sole practitioner.  Beginning in 1990 he focused on criminal law, trying 12 murder trials to jury verdict in Peoria county circuit courts.