President Obama nominated Matthew W. Brann to serve on the United States District Court for the Middle District of Pennsylvania. Brann is a 1990 graduate of The Dickinson School of Law, where he was editor-in-chief of the Dickinson Journal of International Law (now the Penn State Journal of Law and International Affairs).
Brann is a partner at Brann, Williams, Caldwell & Sheetz, where his practice focuses on tort, contract, commercial and real property litigation, and estate planning and probate matters. Prior to joining Brann, Williams, Caldwell & Sheetz, Brann clerked for the Court of Common Pleas in Bradford County.
The Middle District of Pennsylvania hears cases in Scranton, Harrisburg, Williamsport, and Wilkes-Barre. If confirmed to the seat, Brann will join the company of alumni Judge Christopher Conner, 1982 graduate, and Judge John E. Jones, 1980 graduate, who also sit on the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Pennsylvania. Additional presidential appointments of Law School alumni to the federal bench include: Judge Sylvia H. Rambo, 1962 graduate, nominated by President Jimmy Carter in 1979; William W. Caldwell, 1951 graduate, nominated by President Ronald Reagan in 1982; and Edwin M. Kosik, 1951 graduate, nominated by President Ronald Reagan in 1986.
Ellen Foreman, Penn State Live