Diane Wood: Supreme Court Nominee? All You Need To Know

Diane Wood, a 14-year veteran of the Chicago 7th Circuit Court of Appeals, was an early name tossed into the ring as a possible Obama Supreme Court nominee to replace retiring David Souter.

Wood received her bachelor's degree from the University of Texas at Austin in 1971, where she also earned her J.D. in 1975. She later clerked for Judge Irving Goldberg of the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals from 1975 to 1976 and for Associate Justice Harry Blackmun of the U.S. Supreme Court from 1976 to 1977.

Wood worked as an attorney for the State Department in the late '70s and later served as a special assistant to the assistant Attorney General at the U.S. Department of Justice from 1985 to 1987.

She has made a reputation as a strong liberal voice on an otherwise conservative bench and her name was decidedly in the mix when speculation first arose that Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg would retire due to medical issues. The one downside: her position on abortion rights has already sparked the ire of conservatives and pro-life groups, portending a potentially contentious confirmation process.

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