Judge Mark Filip, an outstanding District Court Judge in the Northern District of Illinois, has been nominated by the President to serve as the Deputy Attorney General (the #2 spot at DOJ, in charge of the day-to-day operations of the Department). I have mixed views on this one. Based on what I know of Filip, he would be an excellent Deputy AG. But I think I’d rather have him on the bench for the next 35 years than Deputy AG for only 18 months. If he is confirmed, which he should be, he’ll be another top-shelf District Court Judge who served for a short period and resigned (following the recent resignation of Paul Cassell, who served for 5 years).