Last week the Senate confirmed Gerald Austin McHugh, Jr. to the Eastern District of Pennsylvania by a 59 to 41 vote. McHugh, a 1979 graduate of the Univ. of Pennsylvania Law School, clerked for Hon. Alfred L. Luongo of the U.S. District Court for the E.D. Pennsylvania. From 1981 to 2004 he was a shareholder at Litvin, Blumberg, Matusow and Young and prior to his confirmation was a partner at Raynes McCarty, where he handled complex civil litigation involving tort, insurance and civil rights claims.
Edward G. Smith was confirmed to the Eastern District of Pennsylvania by a 69 to 31 vote. Smith received his J.D. from Dickinson School of Law in 1986. He is a veteran of the U.S. Navy Judge Advocate General’s Corp and most recently served on the Pennsylvania Court of Common Pleas in Northampton County.
The Senate also confirmed M. Douglas Harpool to the Western District of Missouri by a 93 to 5 vote. Harpool, a 1980 graduate of the Univ. of Missouri-Columbia Law, was a five-term Missouri State Representative and since 2006 was a shareholder at Baird, Lightner, Millsap & Harpool, P.C. where he represented public entities in litigation pertaining to employment, civil rights, storm water flooding, road design, open meetings and records, economic development, dangerous condition property, law enforcement, and other actions under 42 U.S.C § 1983.