On December 7, 2022, the U.S. Senate confirmed the nominations of Mia Roberts Perez, Kelley B. Hodge, Kai Scott, and John Frank Murphy to the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania. The confirmations bring the Eastern District of Pennsylvania closer to full capacity, with 21 of 22 seats filled.

Mia Roberts Perez earned a bachelor’s degree from Tufts University and a juris doctor from the Temple University Beasley School of Law. Judge Perez served as an assistant public defender for the Defender Association of Philadelphia from 2006 to 2010 before entering private practice at Friedman Schuman in Philadelphia in 2010. In 2011, Judge Perez started her own law firm, Perez Law LLC in Philadelphia, where she worked until 2016, when she was elected to the Philadelphia County Court of Common Pleas. The U.S. Senate confirmed her nomination by a 52-43 vote and she received her judicial commission on December 16, 2022.

Kelley B. Hodge earned a bachelor’s degree from the University of Virginia and a juris doctor from the University of Richmond T.C. Williams School of Law. Judge Designate Hodge served as an assistant public defender in Richmond, Virginia from 1997 to 2003. In 2004, she joined the Philadelphia District Attorney’s office, where she worked until 2011, when she was appointed to the Pennsylvania Commission on Crime and Delinquency as safe schools advocate. In 2015, Judge Designate Hodge became the Title IX coordinator and executive assistant to the president at the University of Virginia. She served as interim District Attorney of Philadelphia County from 2017 to 2018, at which time she joined the law firm of Elliott Greenleaf in Blue Bell, Pennsylvania. In 2020, Judge Designate Hodge joined Fox Rothschild’s Philadelphia office as a partner in the labor and employment group. The U.S. Senate confirmed her nomination by a 52-43 vote. She will become a U.S. district judge upon receiving her judicial commission.

Kai Scott earned a bachelor’s degree from Hampton University and a juris doctor from the West Virginia University College of Law. She served as a law clerk to Judge David Poorman of the Pennsylvania Bureau of Workers’ Compensation from 1996 to 1998. Judge Designate Scott served as an assistant public defender for the Defender Association of Philadelphia from 1998 to 2004, when she became an assistant federal public defender. In 2015, she was elected to the Philadelphia County Court of Common Pleas. The U.S. Senate confirmed her nomination by a 50-42 vote. She will become a U.S. district judge upon receiving her judicial commission.

John Frank Murphy earned a bachelor’s degree from Cornell University, master’s and doctorate degrees from the California Institute of Technology, and a juris doctor from Harvard Law School. He served as a law clerk to Judge Kimberly A. Moore of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit from 2008 to 2009. Judge Designate Murphy then joined BakerHostetler’s Philadelphia office where his practiced focused on intellectual property litigation. The U.S. Senate confirmed his nomination by a 63-28 vote. He will become a U.S. district judge upon receiving his judicial commission.