Jul 20, 2007 -- President George W. Bush has nominated New Jersey attorney Shalom David Stone ’84Y, for a seat on the Third US Circuit Court of Appeals. If the appointment is confirmed, Mr. Stone—who graduated magna cum laude from Yeshiva College, and three years later earned a law degree from the New York University School of Law—would fill the vacancy created when Samuel A. Alito Jr. became a Supreme Court justice early last year.

As a Third Circuit judge, Mr. Stone, 44, would hear appeals from the federal district courts of New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Delaware, and the Virgin Islands.

For the past seven years, he has been a partner in the Roseland, NJ, law firm of Walder, Hayden & Brogan, representing clients ranging from the Discovery Channel and Film Garden Entertainment to individual criminal defendants. Before joining his current firm, Mr. Stone was an associate in the Newark, NJ, law firm now known as Sills Cummis Epstein & Gross.

As an attorney, he has appeared frequently in court, briefing and arguing appeals and motions in complex litigation, trying cases on both the state and federal levels. He has specialized in commercial litigation, real estate matters, and white-collar defense work.

As a writer, he has published articles in the New Jersey Lawyer, the Insurance Litigation Reporter, and has authored a chapter for the American Bar Association’s report entitled “The Scope of Federal Discovery in the Federal Courts.”

He has also served as chair of the Federal Practice and Procedure Section for the New Jersey State Bar Association, and as a member of the Lawyers’ Advisory Committee for the United States District Court for the District of New Jersey.

Furthermore, he has volunteered to represent indigent defendants and is a regular lecturer for the New Jersey Institute for Continuing Legal Education, an organization that provides ongoing training for lawyers throughout New Jersey.

Mr. Stone’s first interest in law, he recalled, was sparked while taking two undergraduate courses at YU: Constitutional Law and Civil Liberties, both taught by Rabbi Michael Hecht, now the pre-law advisor at YU.

As a private citizen, Mr. Stone, who is married to Dana Ilyne Stone and has three children, is active in his synagogue, Temple Beth Ahm, where he is a regular Torah reader for the congregation. He is also a member of the Nature Conservancy, an organization dedicated to protecting the environment through land purchases.

His nomination for the Circuit Court still has several steps to go through, including garnering support from the US Senate.