OU Law Dean Nominated By President Trump To Federal Court

President Donald Trump nominated University of Oklahoma College of Law's assistant Dean of Students Scott Palk Monday to the Federal District Court in Oklahoma City.

Palk was originally nominated by former President Barack Obama in late 2015 to serve on the Western District Court of Oklahoma. Both Sens. James Lankford and Jim Inhofe supported Palk’s nomination to give him bi-partisan appeal. However, after being approved by the Senate Judiciary Committee in May 2016, Palk was never given a final debate and vote in the full Senate.

At the time of his first nomination, Obama said of Palk, “I am confident (he) will serve the American people with integrity and a steadfast commitment to justice.”

The White House also cited that Palk has served as the Assistant Dean for Students and Assistant General Counsel at the University of Oklahoma College of Law since 2011. 

From 2002 to 2011, he served as an Assistant United States Attorney in the Criminal Division of the United States Attorney’s Office for the Western District of Oklahoma, where he held a number of managerial roles beginning in 2004, including Deputy Criminal Chief and Anti-Terrorism Advisory Council Coordinator. 

Prior to joining the U.S. Attorney’s Office, Palk served as an Assistant District Attorney for Cleveland County in Norman, Oklahoma from 1992 to 2002, where he served as the First Assistant District Attorney from 1999 to 2002. 

Palk received his J.D. from the University of Oklahoma College of Law in 1992 and his B.S. from Oklahoma State University in 1989.