On Wednesday, the U.S. Senate approved Alabama Solicitor General Edmund “Eddie” LaCour Jr. as a federal judge for the Northern District of Alabama.
According to Yellowhammer News, the 51-47 vote was along party lines and filled the spot left by Chief Judge L. Scott Coogler, who retired earlier this year.
LaCour’s confirmation is the last in a series of judicial wins for Alabama’s Senate delegation. Bill Lewis, a former Alabama Supreme Court Justice, and Hal Mooty, a Huntsville attorney, were both recently confirmed.
LaCour has been Alabama’s Solicitor General since 2019, and he has worked on many of the state’s most important appellate cases.
One of them was Allen v. Milligan, the important Alabama redistricting case that the U.S. Supreme Court heard.
His confirmation also ends a political story that started five years ago.
LaCour was first nominated to the federal bench in 2020, but then-Senator Doug Jones of Alabama used his power as the state’s senator to stop the nomination from moving forward.
This time, the nomination went smoothly because Republicans now hold the state’s Senate seats.
Earlier this year, President Trump officially nominated LaCour as part of a larger drive to fill federal jobs in Alabama and other southern states.
Senator Katie Britt, who worked with Senator Tommy Tuberville to get LaCour confirmed, said that his legal record was “unparalleled.”
Britt added, “He is allowed to practice in front of every circuit court of appeals in our country and the Supreme Court, where he has filed more than 100 briefs and argued three cases.” “I have no doubt that he will do an excellent job in the Northern District because he is such a good lawyer.”
Tuberville also applauded LaCour’s appointment, stating that he “has done an excellent job as Alabama’s Solicitor General” and “will continue his great work as a federal district court judge.”
With LaCour, Lewis, and Mooty now confirmed, Alabama’s federal courts will have new judges in the Northern and Middle Districts by 2026.
The Alabama Attorney General’s Office sent out a press release to celebrate the news.
The news statement noted, “Alabama Attorney General Steve Marshall today celebrated the U.S. Senate’s confirmation of Edmund LaCour Jr. to be a U.S. district judge for the Northern District of Alabama.”
“LaCour, who has served as solicitor general in the Attorney General’s Office since 2019, was nominated by President Donald Trump in August,” it said.
“He was a brilliant and principled lawyer who brought a deep respect for the Constitution and the rule of law to everything he did,” he added. “Because of President Trump’s leadership, Alabama and the rest of the country will continue to benefit from Eddie’s unwavering honesty and great service.”
He went on to say, “As solicitor general, Eddie made a lasting impact on some of the most important legal fights of our time.” Because of his unequaled skill and clear constitutional acumen, he was respected by everyone in the judiciary, even the U.S. Supreme Court. President Trump made the best choice possible. We are very delighted to see Eddie bring his intelligence, humility, and passion to the federal bench.
LaCour has been Alabama’s solicitor general since May 2019, when he took over from the deputy solicitor general. Before he worked for the Attorney General’s Office, he was a partner at Kirkland & Ellis LLP in Washington, D.C. There, he represented clients in high-profile cases in the U.S. Supreme Court, federal courts of appeals, and trial courts. The press release added, “He also worked at Bancroft PLLC in Washington and Baker Botts LLP in Houston.”
LaCour is from Dothan, Alabama. He got his Juris Doctor from Yale Law School, his Master of Philosophy from Trinity College Dublin, and his bachelor’s degree, summa cum laude, from Birmingham-Southern College. It claimed, “He worked as a clerk for Judge William H. Pryor Jr. of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 11th Circuit.”
