Patricia Ann Millett spent 15 years as a Justice Department lawyer, seven of them under the second President Bush. She argued 32 cases before the Supreme Court, another 36 before appellate courts, and in 2004 she was given the department's Distinguished Service Award by a Republican attorney general.After President Obama nominated her for a seat on the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals earlier this year, prominent conservative lawyers like Kenneth Starr endorsed her candidacy. At her Senate hearing, Ted Cruz praised her "very fine professional credentials."