David Hale (Reed Weitkamp Schell & Vice)

David J. Hale (Vanderbilt University, University of Kentucky College of Law ) is nominated to be U.S. Attorney for the Western District of Kentucky. He would replace David L. Huber, who was the district’s U.S. Attorney from 2003 until January 2009.  The district’s current U.S. Attorney is Candace G. Hill.

His vitals:

• Born in Ft. Campbell, Ky., in 1967.
• Has worked at Reed Weitkamp Schell & Vice PLLC in Louisville, Ky., since October 1999, first as counsel and since January 2002 as a partner.
• Was an Assistant U.S. Attorney in the Western District of Kentucky from January 1995 to 0ctober 1999.
• Worked as an associate at Brown, Todd & Heyburn (now Frost Brown Todd LLC) in Louisville, from August 1992 to December 1994. Was a summer associate at the firm in 1990 and 1991.
• Was a summer associate at Greenebaum Treitz in Louisville, from May 1991 to July 1991.
• Worked as a runner and office assistant for Miller, Griffin & Marks, PSC in Lexington, Ky., from June 1989 to August 1989.
• Volunteered on a few political campaigns including Jonathan Miller for Governor (2007), Ben Chandler for Congress (2008, 2006, 2004), Jonathan Miller for State Treasurer (2003, 1999) and Ben Chandler for Governor (2003).
• Has tried approximately 13 cases to verdict. Served as sole counsel in eight trials, co-counsel in four trials and associate counsel in one trial.

Click here for his full Senate Judiciary Committee questionnaire.

UPDATE: On his Senate Judiciary financial disclosure he reported assets of $856,300 mostly from his personal residence valued at $550,000. Hale also reported liabilities of $385,500 for a net worth of $856,300.

On his Office of Government Ethics financial disclosure Hale reported his law partnership income for 2008 and most of 2009 to be $464,152.

President Barack Obama tapped five lawyers to lead U.S. Attorney’s offices in Louisiana, West Virginia, Kentucky and New York, the White House announced today.

They are:

-Stephanie Finley (Western District of Louisiana): She has been an Assistant U.S. Attorney for the Western District of Louisiana since 1995. Finley would succeed Donald Washington, who stepped down as U.S. Attorney this week to enter private practice.

-R. Booth Goodwin (Southern District of West Virginia): He has been an Assistant U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of West Virginia since 2001. Goodwin would replace U.S. Attorney Charles T. Miller.

David Hale (Reed Weitkamp Schell & Vice)

-David Hale (Western District of Kentucky): He has been an attorney at Reed Weitkamp Schell & Vice since 1999 Hale previously served as an Assistant U.S. Attorney for the Western District of Kentucky. Hale would succeed David Huber, who resigned as U.S. Attorney in January 2o09. Read more about the nominee here.

-Kerry Harvey (Eastern District of Kentucky): He has been the general counsel and acting inspector general of the Kentucky Cabinet for Health and Family Services since 2008. He previously was a partner at Owen, Harvey, and Carter.

Loretta Lynch (Hogan & Hartson)

-Loretta Lynch (Eastern District of New York): She is a former U.S. Attorney for Eastern District of New York. She served from 1999 to 2001, after nine years as an Assistant U.S. Attorney. She is currently a partner at Hogan & Hartson. Read more about her here.

David Hale (Reed Weitkamp Schell & Vice PLLC)

The field appears to be narrowing for candidates for U.S. Attorney for the Western District of Kentucky.

David Hale of Reed Weitkamp Schell & Vice PLLC and Patrick Bouldin, an attorney in the Office of the Federal Defender for the Western District of Kentucky, are considered to be finalists, according to attorneys familiar with the recommendation process.

Hale (Vanderbilt University, University of Kentucky College of Law) has worked at Reed Weitkamp since 1999.  Before joining RWSV, Hale was a prosecutor in the U.S. Attorney’s office for the Western District of Kentucky. Bouldin attended the University of Kentucky and the University of Louisville School of Law.

The people familiar with the process said several others were also under consideration for the post at one time. They include:

• Benham Sims, a former judge in Jefferson, Ky., District Court
• Fred Cowan, a former state attorney general, a former member of the state House and currently a circuit court judge
• Tom McDonald, a retired judge from the Jefferson Circuit Court
• Marc S. Murphy, an attorney in Louisville

While U.S. senators traditionally make recommendations to the president for their states’ U.S. Attorney posts, both senators from Kentucky — Mitch McConnell and Jim Bunning — are Republicans. As a result, the two lone Democrats in the delegation, Reps. Ben Chandler and John Yarmuth, are left to do the nominating. Spokespeople for Chandler and Yarmuth did not return phone calls seeking comment.

“I don’t know that they agree between themselves who should do the recommending,” Scott C. Cox, a Republican lawyer in Kentucky who served as an Assistant U.S. Attorney  from 1987 to 1994, said in an interview.