US President Joe Biden nominated five new nominees to serve as US attorneys in different parts of the country including Indian American Sopen B Shah for the Western District of Wisconsin, which covers Madison, according to a White House Statement released on Monday, 6 June.
Biden also chose two new nominees to serve as US marshals. This step is a part of a larger effort to tackle the rise in gun crimes since 2020, the recent slew of gun violence, and mass shootings that have plagued the country in the last few weeks.
Biden's comprehensive plan includes adding more police officers, cracking down on illegal gun trafficking, and aiding community prevention programmes, according to the official White House statement.
Shah has been a Counsel at Perkins Coie LLP since 2019. Previously, she was a deputy solicitor general of Wisconsin from 2017 to 2019.
"These individuals were chosen for their devotion to enforcing the law, their professionalism, their experience and credentials, their dedication to pursuing equal justice for all, and their commitment to the independence of the Department of Justice."White House Statement
Shah also served as a law clerk for Judge Debra Ann Livingston on the US Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit and Judge Amul R Thapar on the US District Court for the Eastern District of Kentucky.
She graduated from Yale Law School in 2015 and specialises in business litigation, and in appeals, issues, and strategy, according to a report by American Bazaar. Before law school, Sopen was a financial analyst at Bloomberg and a management consultant with McKinsey & Company, as per Perkins Coie website.
If Shah's nomination is confirmed, she would be the second woman to lead the US Attorney's Office in Madison after Peg Lautenschlager, who was in the office during Bill Clinton's presidency from 1993 to 2001.
(At The Quint, we question everything. Play an active role in shaping our journalism by becoming a member today.)