Extra

Private practice attorney Ismail Ramsey has been nominated to be the next U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of California, President Joe Biden announced Tuesday. 

Ramsey is a founding partner of Ramsey and Ehrlich LLP, the Berkeley-based law firm where he has worked since 2006. He also served as an associate at San Francisco's Keker and Van Nest law firm from 1997 to 1999 and 2003 to 2005. He also served as an assistant U.S. attorney for the Northern District of California between 1999 and 2003. 

Ramsey is one of two U.S. attorney nominees announced Tuesday by the White House. 

"These individuals were chosen for their devotion to enforcing the law, their professionalism, their experience and credentials, their dedication to pursuing equal justice for all, and their commitment to the independence of the Department of Justice," the White House said in a statement. 

Sens. Dianne Feinstein and Alex Padilla, D-California, lauded the nomination of Ramsey and called him "an outstanding individual" with "a wealth of experience and expertise." 

"We look forward to working with our Judiciary Committee colleagues to swiftly confirm his nomination," the senators said in a joint statement. 

Ramsey is a graduate of Harvard Law School, the University of California, Berkeley, and Harvard College. He is also a U.S. Air Force veteran. 

He grew up in Berkeley and is a graduate of Berkeley High School.  

His father, Henry Ramsey Jr., served on the Berkeley City Council, was an Alameda County judge and later dean of Howard University's law school. 

If he is confirmed, Ismail Ramsey will replace acting U.S. Attorney Stephanie Hinds, who has served in the role since Feb. 2021, when previous U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of California David Anderson announced that he would step down following Biden's inauguration. 

The Northern District encompasses 15 counties, including the Bay Area cities of San Francisco, Oakland and San Jose.