- Judge Michael Nachmanoff served as a U.S. Magistrate Judge for the Eastern District of Virginia from 2015 to 2021. Prior to becoming a magistrate judge, he served for thirteen years in the Office of the Federal Public Defender for the Eastern District of Virginia. He was in private practice from 1996 to 2002.
- Nachmanoff was Chief Federal Public Defender from 2007 to 2015, Acting Federal Public Defender from 2005 to 2007, and First Assistant Public Defender from 2002 to 2005.
- In 2007, Nachmanoff successfully argued Kimbrough v. United States before the U.S. Supreme Court, which enabled district courts to impose lower sentences based on the disparate racial impact of crack and powder cocaine in federal sentencing law.
- Nachmanoff has publicly testified on various criminal justice reform issues and, while he was a public defender, advocated for establishing the first ever drug court program in the Eastern District of Virginia.
- Nachmanoff is the third active judge in the Eastern District of Virginia who has previously served as a public defender.
- Nachmanoff has served as president of the Northern Virginia Chapter of the Federal Bar Association (FBA) and has served on the Board of Directors of the FBA’s Criminal Law Section.
- Judge Nachmanoff received his B.A. from Wesleyan University and his J.D. from the University of Virginia School of Law. From 1995 to 1996, he clerked for Judge Leonie Brinkema of the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia.
Confirmed