John Chun

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John Chun
Image of John Chun

Nonpartisan

United States District Court for the Western District of Washington
Tenure

2022 - Present

Years in position

2

Predecessor
Prior offices
King County Superior Court
Washington Court of Appeals Division I District 1
Successor: Ian Birk

Education

Bachelor's

Columbia University, 1991

Law

Cornell Law School, 1994

John Chun is a judge on the United States District Court for the Western District of Washington. He was nominated to the court by President Joe Biden (D) on September 30, 2021, and confirmed by a 49-47 vote of the U.S. Senate on March 23, 2022. [1][2][3] To see a full list of judges appointed by Joe Biden, click here.

The United States District Court for the Western District of Washington is one of 94 U.S. District Courts. They are the general trial courts of the United States federal courts. To learn more about the court, click here.

Chun was previously the Division I District 1 judge on the Washington Court of Appeals. He was appointed to that court by Gov. Jay Inslee (D) on June 29, 2018, and won the seat in the general election on November 5, 2019.

Judicial nominations and appointments

United States District Court for the Western District of Washington

See also: Federal judges nominated by Joe Biden

On September 30, 2021, President Joe Biden (D) nominated John Chun to the United States District Court for the Western District of Washington. He was confirmed by a 49-47 vote of the U.S. Senate on March 23, 2022.[1][2] Chun received commission on March 30, 2022.[4] To read more about the federal nominations process, click here.

Nomination Tracker
Fedbadgesmall.png
Nominee Information
Name: John Chun
Court: United States District Court for the Western District of Washington
Progress
Confirmed 174 days after nomination.
ApprovedANominated: September 30, 2021
ApprovedAABA Rating: Well Qualified
Questionnaire: Questionnaire
ApprovedAHearing: November 17, 2021
QFRs: QFRs (Hover over QFRs to read more)
ApprovedAReported: December 16, 2021 (first) / January 20, 2022 (second) 
ApprovedAConfirmed: March 23, 2022
ApprovedAVote: 49-47


Confirmation vote

The U.S. Senate confirmed Chun by a vote of 49-47 on March 23, 2022.[3] To see a full breakdown of the vote on the official U.S. Senate website, click here.

Chun confirmation vote (March 23, 2022)
Party Yea Nay No vote
Electiondot.png Democratic 45 0 3
Ends.png Republican 3 47 0
Grey.png Independent 1 0 1
Total 49 47 4

Senate Judiciary Committee hearing

The Senate Judiciary Committee held hearings on Chun's nomination on November 17, 2021. The committee voted to advance Chun's nomination to the full Senate on January 20, 2022.

Nomination

On September 30, 2021, President Joe Biden (D) announced his intent to nominate Chun to the United States District Court for the Western District of Washington.[1] The president officially nominated Chun on the same day.[2]

Chun's nomination was returned to the president at the sine die adjournment of the U.S. Senate on January 3, 2022.[5] The president renominated Chun on the same day.[3]

Chun was nominated to replace Judge James Robart, who assumed senior status on June 28, 2016.[2]

The American Bar Association rated Chun Well Qualified.[6] To read more about ABA ratings, click here.

Biography

Education

Chun received his undergraduate degree from Columbia University in 1991 and his J.D. from Cornell Law School in 1994. While in law school, he served as an editor of the Cornell Law Review.[7]

Career

Chun began his career in 1994 as a law clerk for Eugene Allen Wright of the United States Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit. The following year, he went into private practice. He worked at Preston Gates & Ellis (now K&L Gates) before joining the Summit Law Group as a civil litigation specialist.[8][7]

Chun served on the King County Superior Court in Washington from 2014 to 2018.

Awards and associations

  • 2014: Listed as Washington State Litigation Star in Benchmark Litigation
  • 2004-2013: Super Lawyer
  • 2007, 2011 and 2013: Top 100 Washington Super Lawyers
  • 2013: Listed as Washington Future Star in Benchmark Litigation
  • 2007: Community Leadership Award, Korean American Bar Association of Washington
  • 2005: Listed among 40 Under Forty in Puget Sound Business Journal
  • 2003: Listed as Rising Star in Washington Law & Politics
  • AV Rated by Martindale-Hubbell
  • Listed as Top Lawyer in Seattle Metropolitan magazine
  • Listed as Top Lawyer in Washington CEO magazine
  • Fellow, Litigation Counsel of America

Evaluations

Chun received the following evaluations from attorney groups regarding his qualifications to serve on the superior court bench:

  • Rated Exceptionally Well Qualified by the King County Bar Association in 2013[9]
  • Rated Well Qualified by the Joint Asian Judicial Evaluations Committee in 2013[10]
  • Rated Exceptionally Well Qualified by the King County Washington Women Lawyers in 2013[11]
  • Rated Exceptionally Well Qualified by Q-Law: the LGBT Bar Association Judicial Evaluation Committee in 2013[12]
  • Rated Exceptionally Well Qualified by the Loren Miller Bar Association in 2013[13]
  • Rated Exceptionally Well Qualified by the Latina/o Bar Association of Washington in 2014[14]

About the court

Western District of Washington
Ninth Circuit
WA-WD.jpg
Judgeships
Posts: 7
Judges: 7
Vacancies: 0
Judges
Chief: David G. Estudillo
Active judges: Tiffany Cartwright, John Chun, David G. Estudillo, Kymberly Evanson, Lauren King, Tana Lin, Jamal Whitehead

Senior judges:
Robert Bryan, John Coughenour, Carolyn Dimmick, Richard Jones, Robert Lasnik, Ricardo Martinez, Marsha Pechman, James Robart, Barbara Rothstein, Benjamin Hale Settle, Thomas Zilly


The United States District Court for the Western District of Washington is one of 94 United States district courts. The district operates out of courthouses in Seattle and Tacoma, Wash. When decisions of the court are appealed, they are appealed to the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit based in downtown San Francisco at the James R. Browning Federal Courthouse, but hears initial appeals at the Pioneer Federal Courthouse in Portland, Oregon.

The Counties of the Western District of Washington (click for larger map)

The Western District of Washington has original jurisdiction over cases filed within its jurisdiction. These cases can include civil and criminal matters that fall under federal law.

The geographic jurisdiction of the Western District of Washington consists of all the following counties in the western part of the state of Washington. The court's headquarters are in Seattle, with a courthouse in Tacoma.

To read opinions published by this court, click here.

The federal nomination process

Federal judges are nominated by the president of the United States and confirmed by the Senate. There are multiple steps to the process:

  • The president nominates an individual for a judicial seat.
  • The nominee fills out a questionnaire and is reviewed by the Senate Judiciary Committee.
  • The Senate Judiciary Committee holds a hearing with the nominee, questioning them about things like their judicial philosophy, past rulings or opinions, etc.
  • As part of this process, the committee sends a blue slip to senators from the home state in which the judicial nomination was received, allowing them to express their approval or disapproval of the nominee.
  • After the hearing, the Senate Judiciary Committee will vote to approve or return the nominee.
  • If approved, the nominee is voted on by the full Senate.
  • If the Committee votes to return the nominee to the president, the president has the opportunity to re-nominate the individual.
  • The Senate holds a vote on the candidate.
  • If the Senate confirms the nomination, the nominee receives a commission to serve a lifelong position as a federal judge.
  • If the Senate does not confirm the nomination, that nominee does not become a judge.


Elections

2019

See also: Washington intermediate appellate court elections, 2019

General election

General election for Washington Court of Appeals Division I District 1

Incumbent John Chun won election in the general election for Washington Court of Appeals Division I District 1 on November 5, 2019.

Candidate
%
Votes
✔
Image of https://s3.amazonaws.com/ballotpedia-api4/files/thumbs/100/100/John-Chun.jpg
John Chun (Nonpartisan)
 
98.6
 
391,290
 Other/Write-in votes
 
1.4
 
5,723

Incumbents are bolded and underlined. The results have been certified. Source

Total votes: 397,013
Candidate Connection = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey.

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2016

See also: Washington local trial court judicial elections, 2016

Washington held general elections for local judicial offices on November 8, 2016. Candidates for district and superior court seats had to file for election by May 20, 2016. Primary elections were held on August 2, 2016, for six seats where more than two candidates filed for election.

Chun won re-election without appearing on a ballot in 2016 because no challengers emerged by the May 2016 filing deadline.[15] In counties with a population that is greater than 100,000, if only one superior court candidate files for election for a judgeship, that candidate is automatically elected and the county does not hold a general election for the seat. According to the 2010 census, the following counties have a population greater than 100,000:[16]

2014

See also: Washington judicial elections, 2014
Chun ran for re-election to the King County Superior Court.
General: He was unopposed in the general election on November 4, 2014. [17] 

Campaign themes

2019

Ballotpedia survey responses

See also: Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection

John Chun did not complete Ballotpedia's 2019 Candidate Connection survey.

See also

External links

Footnotes

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 The White House, "President Biden Names Eighth Round of Judicial Nominees," September 30, 2021
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 Congress.gov, "PN1207 — John H. Chun — The Judiciary," accessed October 1, 2021
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 Congress.gov, "PN1497 — John H. Chun — The Judiciary," accessed January 5, 2022
  4. ↑ Federal Judicial Center, "Chun, John Hyungseung," accessed April 1, 2022
  5. ↑ Under Senate Rule XXXI, paragraph 6 of the Standing Rules of the Senate, pending nominations are returned to the president if the Senate adjourns sine die or recesses for more than 30 days.
  6. ↑ American Bar Association, "RATINGS OF ARTICLE III AND ARTICLE IV JUDICIAL NOMINEES - 117TH CONGRESS," last updated November 16, 2021
  7. ↑ 7.0 7.1 Summit Law Group, "John H. Chun profile," archived January 13, 2013
  8. ↑ Cite error: Invalid <ref> tag; no text was provided for refs named times
  9. ↑ King County Bar Association, "Letter to John Chun," June 7, 2013
  10. ↑ Joint Asian Judicial Evaluations Committee, "Email to John H. Chun," July 22, 2013
  11. ↑ John Chun campaign website, "Endorsements & Ratings," accessed May 6, 2014
  12. ↑ Q-Law, "Email to John H. Chun," July 19, 2013
  13. ↑ Loren Miller Bar Association, "Judicial Evaluation Rating," September 4, 2013
  14. ↑ Latina/o Bar Association of Washington, "Email to John H. Chun," February 4, 2014
  15. ↑ Washington Secretary of State, "2016 Candidates Who Have Filed," accessed May 21, 2016
  16. ↑ U.S. Census Bureau, "Washington: Annual Estimates of the Resident Population: April 1, 2010 to July 1, 2013," accessed July 24, 2014
  17. ↑ Washington Secretary of State, “2014 Candidates Who Have Filed,” accessed May 22, 2014

Washington courts

Federal courts:

Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals • U.S. District Court: Eastern District of Washington, Western District of Washington • U.S. Bankruptcy Court: Eastern District of Washington, Western District of Washington

State courts:

Washington Supreme Court • Washington Court of Appeals • Washington Superior Court • Washington District Courts

State resources:

Courts in Washington • Washington judicial elections • Judicial selection in Washington

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