Jon Katchen, a well-regarded lawyer familiar with Alaska land, access, and oil and gas issues, has withdrawn his name from consideration for the U.S. District Court for Alaska. He was nominated by President Trump for a judgeship on April 12.
Katchen was a law clerk for President Donald Trump’s sister, Judge Maryanne Trump Barry, who is now retired from the Third Circuit. Katchen is not saying why he withdrew his name, but the political process for confirmation is a known deterrent for nominees.
In private practice in Anchorage at the office of Holland & Hart, Katchen has represented clients before the U.S. Supreme Court, Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals, federal District Court of Alaska, the Alaska Supreme Court, the Alaska Superior Court, the Office of Administrative Hearings, and the Alaska Oil and Gas Conservation Commission.
For the State of Alaska, he served as senior counsel to Alaska Department of Natural Resources Commissioner Dan Sullivan; and special assistant to then-Attorney General Sullivan.
He earned his J.D. at the prestigious University of California Hastings College of Law, and has both a bachelor’s and master’s degree from Boston College. He was key to the resolution of the Point Thomson decision, one that Gov. Bill Walker fought when he was not yet governor.
If is great fun to be a lawyer with conservative leanings and affiliations in Alaska — when you get shanked by someone, it can come from just about anywhere. Certainly the Left is happy and anxious to do the job, but it can also happen from someone on the Right that decides you are not pure enough.
My best to Mr. Katchen going forward.
It is very unusual for a lawyer to turn down a federal appointment to a lifetime time judgeship. It pays very well and the benefits are very generous. There is something going on that we don’t know. Like the possibility of a skeleton? Who knows.
It is very unusual for a lawyer to turn down a federal appointment to a lifetime time judgeship. It pays very well and the benefits are very generous. There is something going on that we don’t know. Like the possibility of a skeleton? Who knows.
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