John Corbett O'Meara


John Corbett O'Meara is an inactive Senior United States District Judge of the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan.

Education and career

Born in Hillsdale, Michigan, O'Meara received his secondary education in the Hillsdale Public Schools and received an Artium Baccalaureus degree from the University of Notre Dame in 1955. Between college and law school, he served on active duty with the United States Navy as a line officer in submarines and was Engineer Officer of the Navy's first guided missile submarine, from 1955 to 1959. After leaving the Navy, he served in Washington, D.C. as Staff Assistant to United States Senator Philip A. Hart.
O'Meara received a Bachelor of Laws from Harvard Law School in 1962. While studying law, O'Meara was appointed to the faculty of Harvard College where he served as Coach of the Harvard Freshman Debate Team and as a member of the staff of the Freshman Dean. He was in private practice in Detroit, Michigan from 1962 to 1994, specializing in employment law litigation, representing management clients. He became a partner in the firm of Dickinson, Wright, Moon, VanDusen and Freeman of Detroit, Michigan. He was the first Group Head of the Employment Law Group at Dickinson, Wright.
O'Meara also taught employment law as an adjunct professor at the University of Detroit Law School from 1965 through 1970. He attained the rank of Commander in the Naval Reserve and was the Commanding Officer of Submarine Reserve Division 9-228 located at the Brodhead Naval Armory in Detroit.
Before his appointment to the bench, O'Meara was politically active in connection with a variety of candidates and causes and held various positions in the Democratic Party and for its candidates, as well as for Judicial candidates. He also served as an officer or member of various sections and committees of the American Bar Association, the State Bar of Michigan, and the Detroit Bar Association.

Federal judicial service

On April 26, 1994, O'Meara was nominated by President Bill Clinton to a seat on the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan vacated by Horace Weldon Gilmore. O'Meara was confirmed by the United States Senate on September 14, 1994, and received his commission on September 15, 1994. He assumed senior status on January 1, 2007.