Arlen Specter: “Judge Jennifer Walker Elrod was nominated to a seat on the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals on March 29, 2007, and a…”

“Judge Jennifer Walker Elrod was nominated to a seat on the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals on March 29, 2007, and a hearing was held on her nomination on July 19, 2007. Her nomination was reported favorably to the full Senate on September 20, 2007. Judge Elrod received her B.A., magna cum laude, in economics from Baylor University in 1988, where she was Phi Beta Kappa and was named the 'Outstanding Graduating Senior in the Honors Program.' In 1992, she received her J.D., cum laude, from Harvard Law School. At Harvard, she was a senior editor and the assistant business manager for the Harvard Journal of Law and Public Policy, and she was a finalist in the James Barr Ames Moot Court Competition. After law school, Judge Elrod served as a law clerk to Judge Sim Lake of the United States District Court for the Southern District of Texas. Following her clerkship, Judge Elrod practiced law in the litigation department of Baker Botts in Houston, TX. In 2002, Governor Rick Perry appointed Judge Elrod to the 190th District Court in Harris County, TX, a State trial court. She was subsequently elected to the position in the 2002 general election and was reelected unopposed in 2006. During her time on the bench, Judge Elrod presided over more than 200 jury and nonjury trials. Judge Elrod has been dedicated to pro bono service and charitable causes her entire career.”