Judge Jonathan Kobes received his Bachelor of Arts from Dordt College and his Juris Doctor from Harvard Law School, where he was an editor and the business manager of the Harvard Journal of Law and Public Policy and a member of the Federalist Society. After graduating from law school, he served as a judicial law clerk to Judge Roger L. Wollman of the United States Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit. Following his clerkship, Kobes served as a litigation attorney at the Central Intelligence Agency, an Assistant United States Attorney in Rapid City, South Dakota, and an associate at the Sioux Falls, South Dakota office of Murphy, Goldammer & Prendergast. Kobes has also worked as in-house counsel at POET, LLC, Dupont Pioneer, and Raven Industries.
Most recently, Kobes served as Deputy Chief of Staff and General Counsel to U.S. Senator Mike Rounds, where his responsibilities included judicial nominations. On June 11, 2018, President Trump nominated Kobes to serve as a United States Circuit Judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit. He was confirmed by the United States Senate on December 11, 2018 and was sworn in by his predecessor, Judge Wollman, on December 18, 2018.
*****
A person listed as a contributor has spoken or otherwise participated in Federalist Society events, publications, or multimedia presentations. A person's appearance on this list does not imply any other endorsement or relationship between the person and the Federalist Society. In most cases, the biographical information on a person's "contributor" page is provided directly by the person, and the Federalist Society does not edit or otherwise endorse that information. The Federalist Society takes no position on particular legal or public policy issues. All expressions of opinion by a contributor are those of the contributor.