The Honorable Orrin Hatch.

United States Senator
Utah
October 28, 2003

Statement of Senator Chairman Orrin G. Hatch

Before the United States Senate Committee on the Judiciary

Hearing on the Nomination of

Mark R. Filip to be

United States District Judge for the Northern District of Illinois

Mark R. Filip, our nominee for the Northern District of Illinois, has a wide variety of legal experience and will make an excellent addition to the federal bench.

Mr. Filip attended Oxford on a Marshall Scholarship, where he graduated with First Class Honors, receiving an Honors B.A. in Law. He then received his J.D., magna cum laude, from Harvard in 1992.

After graduation, Mr. Filip clerked for D.C. Circuit Judge Stephen Williams, then for U.S. Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia. After a year of private practice he joined the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Northern District of Illinois, where he prosecuted criminals for legislative, judicial, and police corruption; white collar fraud; labor racketeering; and international heroin trafficking. In 1999, Mr. Filip joined the Chicago office of Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom, where his practice includes commercial litigation, corporate internal investigations and criminal defense.

Additionally, Mr. Filip has taught at Northwestern University School of Law and the University of Chicago Law School. He has also spent an extraordinary amount of time involved with a variety of pro bono matters.

Mr. Filip's impressive legal experience and academic knowledge will serve him well as a federal district judge. It is my privilege to welcome this fine nominee to the Committee, and I look forward to hearing his testimony.

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