Patrick J. Urda

Patrick Joseph Urda (born August 26, 1976) is an American lawyer who serves as a judge of the United States Tax Court.

Early life
Urda grew up in South Bend, Indiana with four siblings -Kathleen, Anne, Elizabeth, and Michael-, where his father Richard was a tax lawyer and his mother Kathleen taught statistics at St. Mary's College. He is an Eagle Scout.

Education
Urda graduated from St. Joseph High School in South Bend, Indiana. He received his Bachelor of Arts degree in classics, summa cum laude, from the University of Notre Dame, where he was inducted into Phi Beta Kappa. He received his Juris Doctor from Harvard Law School.

Legal and academic career
At the start of his legal career, Urda spent three years in private practice and served as a law clerk to Judge Daniel Anthony Manion of the United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit.

From 2012 to 2015 Urda was a adjunct professor at American University Washington College of Law.

Department of Justice career
Before becoming a judge, Urda held several positions with the United States Department of Justice Tax Division. He was counsel to the Deputy Assistant Attorney General, where he advised him and the Tax Division front office on legal and administrative issues facing the Division, particularly regarding appellate and settlement matters. He also served on two temporary detail assignments outside the Tax Division, at the Office of Legal Policy Nominations Counsel, and the Office of Overseas Prosecutorial Development Assistance and Training. In addition, he was a member of the Tax Division's Appellate Section, which he joined in 2006.

While working in the Appellate Section, he litigated more than eighty appeals from the United States Tax Court and the United States District Courts and has presented oral argument on behalf of the United States in more than forty-five appeals, including arguments in each of the United States Courts of Appeals. He was also one of the principal drafters of the United States' successful brief in Hall v. United States, 566 U.S. 506 (2012).

Awards
Urda is a five-time recipient of the Tax Division's Outstanding Attorney Award, and has received the IRS's Mitchell Rogovin Award.

United States Tax Court service
On August 3, 2017, President Donald Trump nominated Urda to serve as a Judge of the United States Tax Court, to the seat vacated by Judge Diane Kroupa, who retired on June 16, 2014. The Senate Finance Committee held a hearing on his nomination on June 12, 2018, and then reported his nomination unanimously on June 28, 2018. On August 28, 2018, his nomination was confirmed by voice vote. He assumed office as a judge on September 27, 2018.