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Ryan Y. Park

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Ryan Park
Park in 2024
Solicitor General of North Carolina
Incumbent
Assumed office
March 31, 2022
Appointed byJosh Stein
Preceded byMatt Sawchak
Personal details
Born
Ryan Young Park

1983 (age 40–41)
Fridley, Minnesota, U.S.
Political partyDemocratic
EducationAmherst College (BA)
Harvard University (JD)

Ryan Young Park (born 1983)[1] is an American lawyer who has served as the solicitor general of North Carolina since 2022. He is a nominee to serve as a United States circuit judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit.

Park represented the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in the Supreme Court case Students for Fair Admissions, Inc. v. University of North Carolina,[2] a companion case to Students for Fair Admissions v. President and Fellows of Harvard College.[3]

Early life and education

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The son of Korean immigrants, Park was born in Fridley, Minnesota, in 1983 and grew up in Saint Paul.[4][1] His mother moved from Korea to North Carolina to pursue a degree in library science at East Carolina University.[5]

In 2001, Park enrolled at Amherst College, receiving his Bachelor of Arts in economics and political science with distinction in 2005 as president of the college's student government.[1][6] From 2006 to 2007, he was a Fulbright Scholar teaching English at a boys' school in South Korea.[7] He graduated from Harvard Law School in 2010 with a Juris Doctor, summa cum laude.[8][3]

Career

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After graduating from law school, he served as a law clerk for Judges Jed S. Rakoff of the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York from 2010 to 2011 and for Robert Katzmann of the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit from 2011 to 2012. From 2013 to 2014, he clerked for Justices David Souter and Ruth Bader Ginsburg of the Supreme Court of the United States.[9]

Park served as a legal counsel for the Legal Adviser of the Department of State from 2012 to 2013.[3] From 2014 to 2017, he was an associate at the Boies Schiller Flexner LLP.[10] He served a deputy solicitor general of North Carolina from 2017 to 2020.[10] On March 31, 2022, he became the solicitor general.[9]

Park was a lecturer at Duke University and the University of North Carolina School of Law.[11]

Nomination to court of appeals

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On July 3, 2024, President Joe Biden announced his intent to nominate Park to serve as a United States circuit judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit.[10] Senators Thom Tillis and Ted Budd issued a joint statement objecting to the nomination.[12] Tillis said he had informed the White House in April that he had obtained enough support to block Park's nomination but that the White House had declined to put forth an alternative nominee with bipartisan support.[13] On July 8, 2024, Park's nomination was sent to the Senate. President Biden nominated Park to the seat being vacated by Judge James Andrew Wynn, who announced his intent to assume senior status upon confirmation of a successor.[14] On July 31, 2024, a hearing on his nomination was held before the Senate Judiciary Committee.[15] During his confirmation hearing, Park faced criticism over his work for North Carolina attorney general Josh Stein. Republican members of the committee "took aim at Park's record as North Carolina solicitor general, trying to position him as a political activist rather than an impartial arbiter of the law." U.S. Senator John Kennedy questioned whether Park had failed to zealously defend a North Carolina voter identification law in his role with the attorney general's office, or if he had intentionally thrown the case for political purposes.[13][16][17] His nomination is pending before the Senate Judiciary Committee. If confirmed, Park would be the first Asian American to serve on the Fourth Circuit.[12]

Personal life

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Park is married to Eunee Kathleen, whom he met while they were both undergraduates at Amherst College.[7]

See also

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References

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  1. ^ a b c Park, Ryan Y. (2024). "Questionnaire for Judicial Nominees" (PDF). United States Senate Committee on the Judiciary. Retrieved July 30, 2024.
  2. ^ Howe, Amy (July 22, 2022). "Court will hear affirmative-action challenges separately, allowing Jackson to participate in UNC case". SCOTUSblog. Retrieved July 24, 2022.
  3. ^ a b c "Meet the Lawyers Arguing Before the Supreme Court in the Harvard Admissions Lawsuit Next Week". The Harvard Crimson. Retrieved November 3, 2022.
  4. ^ Park, Ryan (June 22, 2018). "Opinion | The Last of the Tiger Parents". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved November 3, 2022.
  5. ^ Manager, Jessica Junqueira NCBA Communications (February 15, 2021). "Solicitor General Ryan Park on Becoming a Lawyer, Learning from Mentors Past and Present and Serving the Public". North Carolina Bar Association. Retrieved November 3, 2022.
  6. ^ "Ryan Park '05 | Candidate Statements". Amherst College. Retrieved August 9, 2024.
  7. ^ a b "Eunee Park and Ryan Park". The New York Times. June 24, 2011. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved November 4, 2022.
  8. ^ Saul, Stephanie (October 31, 2022). "A look at the lawyers who are arguing in the U.N.C. case". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved November 3, 2022.
  9. ^ a b nahmed (March 18, 2020). "Attorney General Josh Stein Announces Transitions in Solicitor General's Office". NCDOJ. Retrieved November 3, 2022.
  10. ^ a b c "President Biden Names Fifty-Two Round of Judicial Nominees" (Press release). Washington, D.C.: The White House. July 3, 2024. Retrieved July 3, 2024. Public Domain This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain.
  11. ^ "Ryan Park". law.duke.edu. Retrieved November 3, 2022.
  12. ^ a b Marques, Lucy. "Biden picks NC solicitor general as nominee for 4th Circuit appeals court vacancy". Charlotte Observer. Retrieved July 3, 2014.
  13. ^ a b Weiss, Benjamin (July 31, 2024). "North Carolina senator vows to sink Fourth Circuit nominee in judiciary scrap with White House". Courthouse News Service. Retrieved August 1, 2024.
  14. ^ "Nominations Sent to the Senate" (Press release). Washington, D.C.: The White House. July 8, 2024.
  15. ^ "Nominations". Washington, D.C.: United States Senate Committee on the Judiciary. July 30, 2024.
  16. ^ Scarcella, Mike (July 1, 2024). "Senators grill US appeals court nominee over 'activist' legal work". Reuters. Retrieved August 1, 2024.
  17. ^ Headley, Tiana. "Fourth Circuit Pick Is at Center of Senate Blue Slips Debate". Bloomberg Law. Retrieved July 31, 2024.
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