A Capital Accomplishment
Sparkle L. Sooknanan ’10 was approved by the U.S. Senate to serve as a District Judge on the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia. She appears at her U.S. Senate Confirmation hearing (top) and with Hon. Ramon Reyes Jr.’92, U.S. District Court judge for the Eastern District of New York (left), who was also nominated to the federal bench by President Joe Biden and confirmed last year.
The U.S. Senate today has confirmed Sparkle L. Sooknanan ’10 to serve as a District Judge on the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, capping off a stunning educational and career journey that began when she left her native Trinidad and Tobago at age 16 and moved to New York to attend college, then business school, and finally Brooklyn Law School.
President Joe Biden announced Sooknanan’s nomination on Feb. 21, as part of his 46th round of judicial nominees.
“Sparkle Sooknanan has set a standard of excellence in everything she’s tackled since her first days as a student at BLS,” said Dean David D. Meyer. “We’re proud of her exceptional leadership and commitment to public service across her career and know she’ll continue to distinguish herself as a federal District Judge.”
Sooknanan’s many career accomplishments include serving as a law clerk for Justice Sonia Sotomayor on the U.S. Supreme Court from 2013 to 2014.
Since 2023, Sooknanan has been the principal deputy assistant attorney general in the U.S. Department of Justice’s Civil Rights Division. She previously served as a deputy associate attorney general in the Department of Justice from 2021 to 2023, after having first joined the department as an appellate attorney in the Civil Division from 2012 to 2013.
In between her two stints at the Justice Department, Sooknanan worked in private practice at Jones Day from 2014 to 2021, making partner in 2020. Previously she clerked for Judge Guido Calabresi on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit from 2011 to 2012, and for Judge Eric N. Vitaliano on the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York from 2010 to 2011.
A desire for higher education prompted Sooknanan to leave her native Trinidad and Tobago as a teenager and move to New York City to attend St. Francis College, where she earned her B.S. and graduated summa cum laude in 2002. Next, she went to business school, earning an M.B.A. with distinction from Hofstra University in 2003. She then became a stellar part-time Brooklyn Law School student who attended at night while working full-time at HIP Health Plan of New York. Despite the demands of working, taking classes, and participating in student activities, she maintained a 4.0 grade point average and graduated Brooklyn Law School summa cum laude.
Faculty members remember the star student well.
David M. Barse Professor of Law Edward Janger, who was one of her professors, said Sooknanan was an admirable student who enjoyed getting involved in all facets of the Law School.
“She was not just a top student in the classroom. She also served as executive articles editor of the Brooklyn Law Review, president of the Moot Court Honor Society, member of the highly successful ABA National Moot Court Team, and coach to the Duberstein Bankruptcy Moot Court team,” Janger recalled.
Centennial Professor of Law Dana Brakman Reiser worked with Sooknanan on scholarly research.
“I knew Sparkle during her time at Brooklyn Law School in her role as my research assistant, and even then, she demonstrated qualities that will serve her tremendously well on the federal bench,” Brakman Reiser said. “Her research skills were superior, she was fastidiously attentive to detail, and she was unafraid to ask questions and raise potential areas of concern. She was always careful, thoughtful, and had great respect for her own work and for others. Sparkle is nothing short of extraordinary. BLS is so lucky to call her one of our own and we will all be very fortunate to have her as a member of the federal judiciary.”
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Supreme Court Justice Sonya Sotomayor and Sooknanan join Brooklyn Law students at a 2016 event held in Brooklyn Heights. (Brooklyn Law Notes, Fall 2016, page 4)
Interview with Sparkle Sooknanan after her Sotomayor clerkship was announced. (Brooklyn Law Notes, Spring 2013, page 4)