Solomon Oliver Jr. is a Senior United States District Judge of the United States District Court for the Northern District of Ohio.
Early Life and Education Born in 1947 in Bessemer, Alabama, Oliver earned a Bachelor of Arts degree from the College of Wooster in 1969. He received his Juris Doctor from the New York University School of Law in 1972 and a Master of Arts in political science from Case Western Reserve University in 1974.
Professional Career Following law school, Oliver served as a law clerk for Judge William H. Hastie of the United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit from 1972 to 1975. He later worked as an Assistant United States Attorney for the Northern District of Ohio from 1976 to 1982, where he served as Chief of the Civil Division and Chief of Appellate Litigation.
From 1982 to 1994, Oliver was a member of the faculty at the Cleveland-Marshall College of Law at Cleveland State University. During his tenure there, he served as a professor of law and as Associate Dean from 1991 to 1994.
Judicial Service On March 9, 1994, President Bill Clinton nominated Oliver to a seat on the United States District Court for the Northern District of Ohio. He was confirmed by the United States Senate on May 6, 1994, and received his commission on May 9, 1994. Oliver served as the court's Chief Judge from 2010 to 2017. He assumed senior status on February 15, 2021.
Throughout his judicial career, Oliver has been involved in various committees of the Judicial Conference of the United States, including the Civil Rules Advisory Committee and the Evidence Rules Advisory Committee. He has also been a member of the American Law Institute.
