NASHVILLE (AP) — A Nashville attorney has been nominated for a federal judgeship in U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Tennessee.

According to a news release from U.S. Rep. Jim Cooper's office, Waverly Crenshaw is a graduate of Vanderbilt University and Vanderbilt Law School. He joined the Nashville firm Waller Lansden Dortch & Davis in 1990, becoming the firm's first African-American attorney. He later became a partner. He also started a mentoring program at Waller and served on the firm's diversity committee.

Cooper, in a statement to the media, called Crenshaw a "first-rate local attorney and community leader." Cooper expressed hopes that the Senate confirms Crenshaw's nomination quickly.