Orelia Merchant was confirmed to the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York on May 3, 2023. She previously served as Chief Deputy Attorney General for State Counsel in the New York State Attorney General’s Office from 2019. Merchant previously served in the United States Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of New York as an Executive Assistant United States Attorney from 2016 to 2019 and as an Assistant United States Attorney from 2002 to 2016. From 1998 to 2002, Merchant served as an Assistant Regional Counsel for the United States Environmental Protection Agency. Merchant received her J.D. from Tulane University Law School in 1998, her M.A. in Marine Science from the College of William and Mary in 1995, and her B.S. from Dillard University in 1992.