On March 20, the U.S. Senate confirmed Judge Edward S. Kiel to the U.S. District Court for the District of New Jersey. He is the first Asian American Notre Dame Law School alum to serve on the federal bench as a U.S. District Court judge. He is also New Jersey’s first Korean American U.S. District Court judge, a 2010 National Asian Pacific American Bar Association Trailblazer awardee, and an active member of the Asian Pacific American Lawyers Association of New Jersey.
Judge Kiel brings a demonstrated commitment to justice and years of experience as a highly qualified jurist. He has been a U.S. Magistrate Judge for the District of New Jersey since 2019. Previously, he was a partner at Cole Schotz, P.C., from 2001 to 2019. Before that, he was an associate at Cole Schotz from 1998 to 2001, at Beattie Padovano from 1994 to 1998, and at Jamieson Moore Peskin & Spicer from 1992 to 1994. Kiel served as a law clerk for Presiding Criminal Judge Michael R. Imbriani of the Superior Court of New Jersey, Somerset County, from 1991 to 1992.
Kiel received his J.D. from Notre Dame Law School in 1991 and his B.A. and B.S. in Electrical Engineering from Rutgers University in 1988.
The U.S. District Court for the District of New Jersey is one of 94 U.S. district courts. Established in 1789, the federal district court operates out of three locations, Camden, Newark and Trenton, New Jersey.