THE U.S. SENATE on April 23 unanimously confirmed the nomination of Jeffrey Howard as judge on the US First Circuit Court of Appeals, ending months of limbo for the former NH attorney general and US attorney. Howard was nominated last August for the appellate court. Information on his swearing-in will be published in Bar News and posted on this site as soon as it is available.

After the vote, Howard said he would be wrapping up his law practice and assuming his judicial duties "in the very near future." He said he would be sworn in at the Warren B. Rudman Federal Courthouse in Concord, and would maintain his chambers there. The First Circuit usually sits in Boston for arguments one week each month, and the judges work on opinions and in their own chambers in their own states most of the rest of the time, Howard said. According to his predecessor, Judge Normal Stahl, the other judges of the First Circuit - which includes the other New England states and Puerto Rico - use teleconferencing and videoconferencing extensively, as well.

"I am extremely grateful for the action by the US Senate, and for the confidence they have shown in me," Howard said. "I am especially pleased by the efforts of our two U.S. senators, who have worked very hard to support my nomination."

Howard, 46, was nominated to the appellate court last August, but there had been no action on the nomination until an April 16 hearing before the Judiciary Committee. Howard, who has no judicial experience, served as both U.S. Attorney and state attorney general, prosecuting white collar and violent crime. Howard will succeed the Hon. Norman H. Stahl, who announced last April that he would be taking senior status.

Howard served as attorney general during the administration of Gov. Steve Merrill from 1993 to 1997. Both he and Merrill, who remain close friends, then joined the Boston law firm of Choate, Hall & Stewart. Howard left the law firm in 2000 to seek the Republican gubernatorial nomination and then opened his own law practice.

Merrill, who now works for Bingham Dana Consulting, has shared an office in Manchester with Howard. Merrill said the long delay in the nomination process put Howard in an awkward position. Once nominated, a candidate for a judgeship seeks to avoid controversies or entanglements that would complicate his nomination. The timetable for progress in the confirmation process is susceptible to political factors and there is no certainty that the nomination will become a reality.

Howard declined to discuss the experience of nomination limbo, and instead referred all calls on his status to the Department of Justice. Former Governor Merrill said it had been a difficult time for his friend, but said he was hopeful that the bipartisan support Howard enjoys would enable him to win confirmation.

Howard is a 1978 graduate of Plymouth State College and a native of Cornish, NH. He was admitted to the NH Bar in 1981 after obtaining his law degree from Georgetown University Law School and soon joined the Office of the Attorney General. He worked as an assistant attorney general, and rose to chief of the Consumer Protection Division and chief of the Legal Counsel Division before being named deputy attorney general in 1988. The following year, President George W. Bush appointed Howard as U.S. Attorney for New Hampshire. During that time, he also served for one year in Washington as principal associate deputy attorney general.

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