One of three candidates who has been recommended for a judgeship vacancy on the U.S. District Court, District of Maine, is from the Topsham-based McTeague Higbee law firm.

Congressmen Mike Michaud and Chellie Pingree, and Sen. Angus King announced Wednesday they are forwarding the name of Jeffrey N. Young to President Barack Obama for his consideration to fill the upcoming judgeship vacancy, along with the Hon. Jon D. Levy, an associate justice on the Maine Supreme Judicial Court in Portland; and William D. Robitzek, an attorney with Berman & Simmons in Lewiston.

The president will send one name to the Senate for confirmation to replace the Hon. George Z. Singal, who is taking senior status on July 31.

Young said Wednesday, “It is an honor to be considered for the appointment to this important position, which impacts so many Mainers. I am pleased to be mentioned with such other worthy candidates as Justice Levy and Bill Robitzek.”

“We had an impressive slate of applicants, and the candidates that were recommended to us are extremely well qualified,” said the delegation. “We appreciate and thank the members of the screening panel for their thorough work and excellent rec- ommendations.”

According to the letter they sent to Obama, the delegates’ offices in February created a judicial screening panel of 12 attorneys, legal scholars and a retired judge representing the diversity of our statewide bar, and chaired by attorney Peter J. DeTroy.

Their offices announced the screening process, which was widely publicized by the Maine Bar Association. Fourteen applicants submitted their resumes for consideration by the screening panel.

The screening panel interviewed all applicants and recommended

Young, Levy and Robitzek for further consideration.

According to the McTeague Higbee website, Young is a graduate of Brown University and Case Western Reserve University School of Law. He has been a partner with McTeague Higbee since 1988. He “defends the rights of workers,” and was admitted to practice in the U.S. Supreme Court and the state and federal courts in Maine, the District of Columbia, and Maryland as well as the First, Second, Fourth and Ninth Circuit U.S. Courts of Appeal. He represents employees and unions in employment disputes, concentrating on age, sex, race and disability discrimination matters as well as wage and hour and family medical leave matters.

Young is a member of the Maine State Bar Association, Maine Employment Lawyers Association, Maine Civil Liberties Union and National Employment Lawyers Association, and has served as cochair of the Maine State Bar Association’s Labor and Employment Law section.

Prior to joining McTeague Higbee, Young worked as a lawyer in Washington, D.C., and before that as a union organizer for the Service Employees International Union.

He lives in Cumberland with his wife and three children.