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U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Indiana Magistrate Judge Joshua P. Kolar has been nominated to fill the vacancy on the 7th Circuit Court of Appeals created by the death last summer of Judge Michael Kanne.
President Joe Biden announced Kolar’s nomination Thursday.
According to the White House, Kolar has been a magistrate in the Indiana Northern District since 2019. He also serves as a lieutenant commander in the U.S. Navy Reserve, where he has served since 2009. He served on active duty in Afghanistan from 2014 to 2015.
Prior to taking the bench, Kolar worked as an assistant U.S. attorney for the Northern District of Indiana from 2007 to 2018, including serving as national security lead in that office from 2015 to 2018.
Kolar was tapped in 2018 to succeed now-retired Magistrate Judge Paul Cherry.
His career also includes work as an associate at Mayer Brown LLP and as a law clerk for Judge Wayne R. Andersen of the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois.
Kolar earned his bachelor’s degree and his J.D. from Northwestern University.
Kolar’s nomination to replace Kanne comes about 13 months after the late judge died in June 2022.
It also continues a string of federal judicial vacancies being filled in Indiana, including last year’s confirmation of Judge Doris Pryor to the 7th Circuit and this year’s confirmation of Judge Matthew Brookman to the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Indiana.
According to the U.S. Courts website, there are still two Indiana vacancies that need to be filled, both on the Northern District bench: the vacancies of Judges Jon DeGuilio and Theresa Springmann, who have each taken senior status.
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