Detra Shaw-Wilder, J.D. '94, is the latest School of Law alumna nominated for the federal bench, for the United States District Court for the Southern District of Florida.
Judge Melissa Damian, J.D. '95, was recently confirmed to serve on the United States District Court for the Southern District of Florida, as was Judge Jacqueline Becerra, B.A. '91, who spent her first year of law school at Miami.
In 2022, Kendra Davis Briggs, J.D. '02. was confirmed as associate judge of the Superior Court of the District of Columbia.
Shaw-Wilder has been an attorney in private practice at Kozyak Tropin & Throckmorton in Coral Gables, Florida, since 1994, rising from associate to partner. From 2015 to 2017, she was the firm's managing partner and has served as general counsel for the firm since 2017.
Damian has been a United States Magistrate Judge for the Southern District of Florida since 2022. Previously, she worked in private legal practice as of counsel at Damian & Valori from 2013 to 2021, appellate counsel at The Ferraro Law Firm from 2010 to 2013, and an associate at Kenny Nachwalter, P.A. from 1997 to 1999.
Damian also served as an Assistant U.S. Attorney in the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Southern District of Florida from 1999 to 2010. Judge Damian served as a law clerk for Judge Ursula Ungaro on the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida from 1995 to 1997.
Becerra has been a United States Magistrate Judge for the Southern District of Florida since 2019. She worked as a shareholder at Greenberg Traurig, P.A. in Miami, Florida, from 2004 to 2018. She served in the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Southern District of Florida, first as an Assistant U.S. Attorney from 1999 to 2002, then as a Special Counsel from 2002 to 2004. Becerra joined the U.S. Department of Justice through its Honors Program, serving in the Civil Division Federal Programs Branch from 1994 until 1997 and then in the U.S. Attorney's Office for the District of Columbia from 1997 to 1999.
"My UM education taught me how to 'think like a lawyer,'" wrote Becerra in an email. "I met wonderful mentors that inspired me and shaped my career like Professors [Martha] Mahoney, [Anthony] Alfieri and [Irwin] Stotzky."
