Claire Eagan New Chair of Judicial Conference’s Executive Arm

Judge Claire V. Eagan of the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Oklahoma is the new chair of the Judicial Conference’s executive arm, taking the reins from Judge Merrick B. Garland of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit.

Supreme Court Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr. tapped Eagan for the post, which took effect Feb. 12 as Garland ended his term as chief judge of the D.C. Circuit.

Eagan was chief judge for the Northern District of Oklahoma from 2005-12, and she served as a judge on the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court from 2013-19.

The Executive Committee reviews the jurisdiction of conference committees, prepares proposed consent and discussion calendars for meetings of the Judicial Conference, and establishes and publishes procedures for assembling agendas and schedules of events in preparation for conference sessions.

The Judicial Conference is the policy making body for the judiciary.

Roberts also appointed Chief Judge Lavenski R. Smith of the Eighth Circuit to the Executive Committee, according to the Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts.

Other members of the committee include First Circuit Chief Judge Jeffrey R. Howard; Second Circuit Chief Judge Robert A. Katzmann; and Ninth Circuit Chief Judge Sidney R. Thomas; Robert James Conrad, Jr., of the Western District of North Carolina; L. Scott Coogler, of the Northern District of Alabama; and James C. Duff, who’s director of the U.S. Courts’ office.