Travis McDonoughThe White House on Thursday announced that Travis McDonough, a Chattanooga attorney who presently serves as Mayor Andy Berke's chief of staff and legal adviser, has been nominated to become the new judge of the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Tennessee.
If confirmed by the Senate, McDonough will occupy the seat of Judge Curtis Collier, who recently took senior status.
City spokeswoman Lacie Stone said Thursday evening that neither McDonough nor Berke could comment at this time.
According to newspaper archives, McDonough beat out at least four other hopefuls vying for the spot -- Celeste Creswell and Leah Gerbitz, both of the Miller and Martin law firm, Lee Davis and U.S. Magistrate Judge Susan K. Lee.
There are five active district judges in the Eastern District of Tennessee, which stretches from Johnson County in the northeast corner of the state to Lincoln County in the middle of the state. The district holds 41 Tennessee counties and a population estimated at more than 2.4 million people.
McDonough joined the Miller & Martin law firm in 1997, practicing mostly civil law, with victories defending a city councilman, a bio-fuel company and Tyson Foods.
He earned his law degree from Vanderbilt University and passed the bar in 1997. Prior to law school he graduated from Sewanee: The University of the South summa cum laude in 1994 and was a Harry S. Truman scholar in 1993.
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