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The U.S. Senate last week confirmed the nomination of an Indianapolis attorney to serve as a federal judge in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Indiana.
Justin Olson, who serves as counsel at Kroger Gardis & Regas LLP, was nominated in November by President Donald Trump. His confirmation was Feb. 5.
Olson will fill a vacancy that’s been open since July 2024, when Judge Jane Magnus-Stinson took senior status with the court.
Notably, Olson is representing three female swimmers at the University of Pennsylvania in their case against the university, Harvard University, the Ivy League, and Indianapolis-based NCAA for alleged Title IX violations. According to the women, the defendants violated Title IX by allowing transgender swimmer Lia Thomas to compete on UPenn’s women’s swim team in the 2021-22 season.
On Feb. 6, Olson withdrew from the case due to his judicial appointment, according to court documents uploaded in Pacer. Two other attorneys who are representing the plaintiffs will remain on the case.
In a November post on Truth Social announcing Olson’s nomination, Trump said, “Hoosiers can trust Justin to always uphold the Rule of Law and strongly protect their Constitutional Rights.”
Shortly after his nomination, Olson faced questioning from the Senate Judiciary Committee, discussing topics like the Jan. 6, 2021, events and his opinion on who won the popular vote and the Electoral College in the 2020 election.
Olson told The Indiana Lawyer he’s looking forward to returning to the public service sector in this new role.
“I’m looking forward to working hard to help the court and ensure that everyone who comes into the courthouse receives due process [and] equal justice under the law from a fair and impartial judge,” Olson said.
Prior to his time at Kroger Gardis & Regas, Olson served as an Assistant United States Attorney for the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Indiana.
Olson told The Lawyer he’s finished transferring his cases at the firm to other attorneys. He anticipates taking the oath of office at the end of February but until then, is waiting to receive his judicial commission from Trump.
He’s also interviewing law clerks and learning more about the district court’s processes, he said.
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