The White House
Office of the Press Secretary
For Immediate Release
March 17, 2010
President Obama Nominates Judge Leonard Stark and Amy Totenberg to the United States District Court
WASHINGTON, DC – Today, President Obama nominated Judge Leonard Stark and Amy Totenberg to the United States District Court. Judge Stark is a nominee for the District of Delaware and Totenberg is a nominee for the Northern District of Georgia.
“Leonard Stark and Amy Totenberg are distinguished candidates for the United States District Court,” President Obama said. “They have both displayed an exceptional commitment to public service and they will be thoughtful and esteemed additions to the federal bench. I am honored to nominate them today.”
Judge Leonard P. Stark: Nominee for the United States District Court for the District of Delaware
Judge Leonard P. Stark is a United States Magistrate Judge for the District of Delaware, a position he has held since 2007. Previously, he was an Assistant United States Attorney for the District of Delaware and an associate in the Delaware office of Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom LLP. He began his legal career in Wilmington, Delaware, as a law clerk to the Honorable Walter K. Stapleton of the United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit. Judge Stark graduated from the University of Delaware in 1991 with three degrees: an M.A. in History, a B.S. in Economics, and a B.A. in Political Science. In 1993, he received a doctorate degree in Politics from the University of Oxford, where he studied as a Rhodes Scholar. He earned his J.D. from Yale Law School in 1996.
Amy Totenberg: Nominee for the United States District Court, Northern District of Georgia
Since 2000, Amy Totenberg has been a sole practitioner and arbitrator based in Atlanta. She serves as a special master in the U.S. District Court for the District of Maryland and as a court monitor in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia. From 1994 to 1998, Totenberg served as the first in-house general counsel for the Atlanta school system. Before that, she focused on civil litigation, primarily as a sole practitioner. She also served as a part-time Municipal Court Judge for the City of Atlanta from 1988 to 1993. Totenberg received her J.D. in 1977 from Harvard Law School, and her A.B., magna cum laude, from Harvard-Radcliffe in 1974.