Adeel Mangi – Nominee to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit

A long search to replace Judge Joseph Greenaway on the Third Circuit led the White House to civil attorney Adeel Mangi. If confirmed, Mangi would fulfill several firsts on the bench, being the first Muslim American and Pakistani American on the appellate bench, as well as the only judge on the bench currently not to practice law under a J.D.

Background

Born Adeel Abdallah Mangi in Karachi, Pakistan in 1977, Mangi received a B.A. from the University of Oxford in 1998 and a Postgraduate Diploma from the City University London Inns of Courts in 1999 before getting an L.L.M. from Harvard Law School in 2000. Mangi then joined Patterson Belknap Webb & Tyler LLP where he has served as a partner since 2010.

History of the Seat

Mangi has been nominated for a New Jersey seat on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit vacated by Judge Joseph Greenaway. Greenaway, named to the district court by President Clinton in 1996 and to the Third Circuit by President Obama in 2010 stepped away from the bench on June 15, 2023.

The Biden Administration considered a number of candidates for the vacancy before zeroing in on Mangi. See David Wildstein, Adeel Mangi is Top Candidate for Third Circuit Court of Appeals Seat, New Jersey Globe, Nov. 6, 2023, https://newjerseyglobe.com/fr/adeel-mangi-is-top-candidate-for-third-circuit-court-of-appeals-seat/. The initial frontrunner for the seat was New Jersey Supreme Court Justice Fabiana Pierre-Louis, who took herself out of the running during the process. See id. Mangi, who previously interviewed for a district court judgeship under President Trump was brought under consideration in September 2023 and was nominated on November 15, 2023.

Political Activity

Mangi has a handful of political contributions to his name, including contributions to Biden and to Hillary Clinton in 2016.

Legal Experience

While he is a resident of Jersey City, Mangi has practiced at the New York City Office of Patterson Belknap Webb & Tyler LLP for his entire legal career, starting there in 2000, where he has focused on complex civil litigation. During his career, Mangi has tried eight bench and jury trials, including two jury trials in a trade secrets dispute in which Mangi secured a $2 billion jury verdict. See Appian Corp. v. Pegasystems, Inc., No. 2020-07216 (Circuit Court of Fairfax Cnty., Virginia). In other notable cases, Mangi represented the pet food company Blue Buffalo in defending a false advertising suit. See Blue Buffalo Co. Ltd. v. Wilbur-Ellis Co. LLC et al., No. 4:14-cv-00859.

Mangi has also briefed and/or argued approximately 30 appeals before federal and state courts of appeal, including appellate litigation before the Third Circuit on behalf of Johnson & Johnson in a suit against Walgreen. See Walgreen Co. v. Johnson & Johnson, 950 F.3d 195 (3d Cir. 2020).

Setting aside the civil and commercial litigation he worked on, Mangi also handled a number of notable pro bono cases. Notably, Mangi was plaintiff’s counsel for the estate of Karl Taylor, an inmate who died in a New York correctional facility. See Ramsay-Nobles, et al. v. Keyser et al., No. 1:16-cv-05778 (S.D.N.Y.). After a two week trial, Mangi settled the case for approximately $5 million. Mangi also represented Muslim groups in the towns of Bayonne and Bernards in suits after permits for building mosques were denied in the towns, leading to settlements and construction of the mosques in both towns. See Bayonne Muslims et al. v. City of Bayonne et al., No. 2:17-cv-03731 (D.N.J.) and The Islamic Society of Basking Ridge et al. v. Townships of Bernards et al., No. 3:16-cv-1369 (D.N.J.).

Additionally, Mangi has submitted numerous amicus briefs before the U.S. Supreme Court. For example, Mangi filed an amicus brief on behalf of the Muslim Bar Association of New York in support of the gay and transgender plaintiffs seeking protection under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act in Bostock v. Clayton County, Ga. See 140 S. Ct. 1731 (2020). Mangi also represented various Muslim bar associations in opposition to the Trump travel bans. See Trump v. Hawaii, 138 S. Ct. 2392 (2018). Additionally, on the circuit level, Mangi represented a coalition of religious organizations as amici in a suit regarding whether the Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act (“RLUIPA”) permits money damages. See Landor v. Louisiana Dep’t of Corr. & Pub. Safety, 82 F.4th 337 (5th Cir. 2023).

Overall Assessment

As a relatively young nominee with a number of liberal pro bono representations, it is perhaps unsurprising that Mangi has already drawn significant opposition from the right. However, it is surprising that much of the opposition at Mangi’s confirmation hearing centered around allegations of antisemitism based not on any statements or positions taken by Mangi himself but rather by others. Mangi’s pro bono representations took fairly little oxygen during an otherwise contentious confirmation hearing. This was perhaps a recognition that there is little in Mangi’s actual legal record that is likely to draw opposition. Barring anything surprising emerging about Mangi himself, Mangi is likely to be confirmed and will likely be a left-meaning but relatively mainstream judge on the Third Circuit.

321 Comments

  1. Aiden's avatar

    Ernesto “Ernest” Gonzalez, who earned a bachelor’s degree at the University of Texas at San Antonio in 1987, is a former assistant prosecutor in the Bexar County District Attorney’s Office and served as an assistant U.S. attorney in Texas for 23 years

    Before being nominated to the Texas federal bench

    Like

  2. CJ's avatar

    I remember there was a user on the blog who has a Wikipedia account. I asked him if he could create a Wikipedia page for Seth Aframe, and I think he said he could get to it after a busy time.

    The reason why the Wikipedia page for Joshua Kolar and other nominees were targeted for deletion or weren’t created is because some users believe that the pages weren’t relevant unless the nominee was confirmed or was a very famous/important person in law. Which to me is really stupid because any nominee to something as big and important as a Federal Court is more than relevant enough for a page even if their nomination fails. Jabari Wamble’s nomination failed, but I think he still deserves a Wikipedia page, as I think with any other nominee whose nomination failed. Nomination failed or succeeded, every nominee deserves a Wikipedia page.

    Liked by 1 person

    • keystone's avatar

      I’m not that user but I have a longstanding Wikipedia account and have created many pages over the years. I’ve never created any for judges, but I have created some for various politicians over the years. The wikipedia rules state that being a nominee for a position isn’t enough to warrant a page. I don’t necessarily agree with it or understand it but the rules are pretty clear.

      Usually, the nominees require something else to secure the pages, such as prior elected positions or involvement in high profile cases. It also helps to have a variety of news sources.

      I think the thing that secured Kolar’s page was that fact that he was a magistrate judge. When his page was up for deletion, there was a lot of debate as to whether or not being a magistrate in and of it self was a notable enough position and a lot of people voted yes.

      Berner’s page was secured largely in part because of her in involvement in the Berner-Kadish v. Minister of Interior case.

      I haven’t really looked into it, but I suspect that Mangi probably has notable coverage of prior cases. That might help to get his page live. I’m not sure what sort of coverage Aframe has received prior to this nomination.

      The last thing I’ll say is that when these pages are nominated for deletion, there’s an open vote that determines the outcome. It’s all well and good for us to complain here about the pages not being live, but it does nothing unless we make our voices heard where it actually counts. It’s like Obama said, “Don’t boo, vote”. I’d encourage everyone here to at least create a Wikipedia account and for us to sound the alarm when a vote is occurring. The vote totals aren’t usually that great, and I think we could have an impact if we work on our GOT organization.

      Liked by 2 people

  3. keystone's avatar

    The Jerusalem Post also put out an article yesterday about the GOP mistreatment of Mangi during his hearing.

    https://www.jpost.com/diaspora/article-779825

    It’s interesting that these articles are coming out now, several weeks after his hearing. I wonder if someone is coordinating a Press Relations strategy.

    It’s also interesting because I’m not seeing anything on JP about Nicole Berner who also had a hearing that on that day and is a dual US-Israeli citizen.

    Liked by 1 person

      • Jamie's avatar

        How moderate is Locher though? The impression I got was that Democrats in Iowa (and I presume in DC) saw him as a mainstream liberal, just more quiet about it. He’d be a decent candidate even in a blue state.
        Although striking down these kinds of laws are pretty commonplace. Even some Trump appointed judges have struck down some laws like these.

        Liked by 3 people

      • Dequan's avatar

        That is a debate on this blog I don’t think we ever closed. Somebody mentioned a long time ago that Locher is a Democrat. Somebody else said his wife is a Democrat & a fairly liberal one at that. I always assumed he was slightly left of center.

        Like

      • Jamie's avatar

        I took a look at Locher’s page at this site, wow the comments were spicy… I will say that it felt like everyone seemed to think that the Senate was lost and it wasn’t. Feel the same way about 2024, everyone seems to think a GOP takeover in the Senate is certain, well I’m not so sure it is.

        Locher’s donations are hard to parse because a lot of them another older Stephen Locher in Iowa City, not sure they are related. Still some of them are his and for liberal and Democratic causes. His wife is certainly a Democrat, she has multiple donations to Democrats including Obama before she became a judge.

        Liked by 1 person

      • Aiden's avatar

        I dont think Lochner would be that great of a candidate in most blue states. For New Jersey probably an A+. Hahah

        There has being talk of him being a mainstream liberal but I havent seen anything concrete.
        I would still say he would be pretty moderate and mainstream.

        Sure, there has being some striking down of those laws by Trump appointees. However, I believe some have also upheld similiar laws at appellate levels and district levels.
        So I think having these biden appointees reduces the risk of that coin toss with a trump appointee.

        I wonder if those Trump appointees are libertarian and anti state and that played into the striking down similiar in part to Gorsuch. Even though they are likely conservative on most other things.
        This is also like Don Willett who is absolutely a conservative but is seen as progressive in Criminal Justice because of his anti qualified immunity position.

        Liked by 2 people

  4. Dequan's avatar

    @Jaime

    Oh yea I remember those debates on this blog back then. And yea Lochner’s wife certainly seemed liberal from what I remember from back then.

    @Aiden

    Lochner for New Jersey being an A+… Funny but sadly much closer to true than funny then it should be for any blue state… Haaaaa

    Like

  5. raylodato's avatar

    Happy retirement (senior status) to Judge Brian Davis of MDFL. I hated the way Republicans got into a snit during his nomination process about a speech he’d given where he pointed out the obvious, that there are injustices in the legal system. It was obviously an attempt to humiliate him, and they should have been ashamed. But this is an entire political party without shame, so yeah.

    Liked by 2 people

  6. raylodato's avatar

    @Jamie’s point about the Senate elections in ’24–while I agree with most that West Virginia is probably a flip, I don’t think an R–>D flip is impossible. I think the most likely places are TX and MO.

    But more likely given the events of the past week is that Ron Johnson doesn’t finish his term and Gov. Evers appoints a Dem to replace him. If Johnson resigns late enough that they can forego a special election in ’24, the WV flip won’t matter in terms of Senate control.

    Liked by 1 person

    • tsb1991's avatar

      Believe it or not in the wildly unlikely event Ron Johnson resigned, I’m pretty sure the Wisconsin governor does NOT have appointment powers for vacant Senate seats, and that the seat would remain open until the next special election. Still, Republicans would be short a seat for the rest of the Congress and would make confirming the most difficult nominees a bit easier.

      Liked by 2 people

    • Jamie's avatar

      WV is gone. But we need two out of three of Ohio, Montana, and Texas. States like FL and MO are on the board, but if they are flipping then the Senate has already been held.
      In 2022, one political pundit said the reason why the Dems pulled off an upset in the Senate was ABCDE; abortion, bad candidates, and denial of elections. But what people ignored is how far Democrats ran ahead of the baseline in these states. The national environment was GOP +2 compared to Democratic +4 in 2020. That means that Democratic Senate candidates were running nearly 10% ahead or more of where they should have been in states like PA, AZ, OH, etc.
      If 2024 is what I expect it to be with the economy/crime stabilizing and Trump continuing to be poison, then the story in 2024 in the Senate will be good candidates for Democrats. Jon Tester and Sherrod Brown are strong incumbents in red states, and Ted Cruz is not too different that the failures that the GOP put up in 2022. As such, winning two of out three of Ohio, Montana, and Texas is far less daunting than people think. Personally I don’t think Brown an underdog at all. Abortion is going to continue to be an albatross for the GOP there, and Brown has consistently overperformed in Trump voting working class areas because he has a long history of standing up for those workers there.

      Liked by 3 people

    • Dequan's avatar

      Oh that. I thought I missed something. As much as I love the sound of Senator Mandela Barnes, I think there’s a better chance of him being an astronaut before him or any Democrat being the U.S. senator in Johnson’s seat before January 2029 absent any health issue that forces Ron to vacate the seat.

      We already know Johnson tried to overturn the election & is overall a piece of crap Senator. I just don’t see it leading to him vacating that seat one way or another. It sure won’t be due to Shane he’s brought to his constituents because he could give a damn about them. And I doubt an indictment will happen & even if it did that would take years. Not to mention even more time for appeals.

      Like

  8. raylodato's avatar

    OK, obviously my research skills have atrophied during the holidays, but as @Dequan and @tsb19991 pointed out, even a vacancy of several months helps pass more nominees and possibly advances an EDWI nominee without Johnson’s Lucy-with-the-football routine.

    Liked by 1 person

  9. Mitch's avatar

    I think that with regard to the Wisconsin vacancy, Ron Johnson will imitate Tommy Tuberville. He’ll drag his feet for as long as possible, but back down at the last moment. I expect Judge Marc Hammer to be the next District Judge.

    Liked by 1 person

  10. keystone's avatar

    Lots of senior statuses going through this week and next.

    Dec 26 – Thomas Durkin (NDIL)
    Dec 29 – Ann Aiken (OR)
    Dec 30 – Brian Davis (MDFL)
    Dec 31- Richard Andrews (Del)
    Jan 1 – Eldon Fallon (EDLA)
    Jan 3 – Malachy Mannion (MDPA)

    Andrews will be replaced by Jennifer Hall. Mustafa Kasubhai has been nominated to replace Aiken. The rest of the spots are nomineeless.

    Liked by 1 person

Leave a reply to raylodato Cancel reply