But Robart had been called judge for more than a decade. President George W. Bush nominated him to the federal court for Washington’s western district court in 2004. Though he had held no judgeship before, senators of both parties praised him.
Sen. Patty Murray, D-Wash., introduced him to the judiciary committee as a man who had fostered six children with his wife.
Sen. Patrick J. Leahy, D-Vt., went over Robart’s 30 years as a lawyer – up to his work at the time as managing partner at Lane Powell Spears Lubersky, where he handled mostly commercial law cases.
Utah’s Republican Sen. Orrin G. Hatch noted Robart’s “representation of the disadvantaged” – including his work representing “southeast Asian refugees.”
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