Several of President Barack Obama's recent nominees for the federal judiciary have reported a household net worth of at least seven figures, according to disclosure reports filed with the Senate Judiciary Committee.
Jesse Furman, a nominee for the Southern District of New York, disclosed a net worth of $14.2 million, among the highest for Obama’s judicial nominees. He has spent much of his career in the Justice Department, most recently as the deputy chief appellate attorney in the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Manhattan. He’s worked on several high-profile cases, including the attempted prosecution of Khalid Sheikh Mohammed.
Records indicate that much of Furman’s wealth comes from family assets, including a $6.7 million interest in MF Est LLC. His disclosure report says little about the company, but the disclosure report filed by his brother, Jason Furman, an Obama economic adviser, describes MF Est LLC as a family-owned real-estate company with holdings in shopping centers, hotels and other facilities. Their father, Jay Furman, is a principal of RD Management, a real-estate company.
Jesse Furman reported that MF Est LLC generated at least $100,000 in income for him during the 17 months covered by the disclosure report. He also reported a personal residence with an estimated value of $6.8 million. His wife, Ariela Dubler, is a professor at Columbia Law School.
Other Obama judicial nominees who in the past have reported a high household net worth include the former head of the New York office of Wilmer Cutler Pickering Hale and Dorr and a law professor whose husband’s family founded a meat-processing company.
Among other recent nominees, Ronnie Abrams, a nominee for the Southern District of New York, reported a net worth of $4.9 million. She is a special counsel for pro bono at Davis Polk & Wardwell, making $366,195 at the firm in 2010. Much of her household net worth comes from a personal residence valued at $4.7 million, against a mortgage balance of $693,750.
Abrams’ husband, Greg Andres, is a deputy assistant attorney general in DOJ’s Criminal Division. Her father is Cahill Gordon & Reindel partner Floyd Abrams.
Evan Wallach, picked for elevation to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit, reported a net worth of $2.2 million. Wallach is a judge on the U.S. Court of International Trade. His largest reported asset is his residence, valued at $750,000.
Michael Fitzgerald, a nominee for district court in the Central District of California, reported a net worth of $2.1 million. He is a name partner at Corbin, Fitzgerald & Athey in Los Angeles, and he reported 2010 income from the firm of $428,929 in 2010.
Margo Brodie, a nominee for the Eastern District of New York, reported a net worth of $1.9 million. She is deputy chief of the criminal division in the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Brooklyn. Among her household assets are two rental properties in Brooklyn valued at $3 million, on which she has mortgages totaling $1.5 million.
Andrew Carter, a nominee for the Southern District of New York, reported a net worth of $1 million. He’s been a federal magistrate judge in the Eastern District of New York since 2009 and previously worked as a federal public defender.
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