Chicago is poised to have its first-ever female U.S. attorney as President Joe Biden announced the nomination of April Perry to the high-profile post while headed to the city for an unrelated event.

Perry, a former assistant U.S. attorney in Chicago, was one of two finalists for the position announced in March by Democratic U.S. Sens. Tammy Duckworth and Dick Durbin after a screening process that began earlier this year when then-U.S. Attorney John Lausch announced his plan to step down.

Perry would be the first woman to hold the position of Chicago’s top federal prosecutor, while the other finalist, Chicago attorney Sergio Acosta, would have been the first of Hispanic descent.

Durbin and Duckworth said in a written statement Wednesday that they were pleased with Perry’s selection and look forward to supporting her in the Senate, where the nomination will go first before the Judiciary Committee, where Durbin is the chair.

If passed out of committee, the nomination would go to the full Senate for a vote — a process that can take weeks.

“She was highly regarded by our screening committee and brings strong qualifications and a wealth of experience from her time in the U.S. attorney’s office and in the private sector to the position,” the senators’ statement read.

Perry is currently the senior counsel for global investigations and fraud and abuse prevention at Chicago-based GE HealthCare. Previously, she worked for 12 years as a federal prosecutor in Chicago, and for a time was a coordinator for various programs that concentrated on violence against women, hate crimes and civil rights.

While with the U.S. attorney’s office, she prosecuted television pitchman Kevin Trudeau on allegations that he made deceptive TV commercials, a crime that led to a 10-year federal prison sentence for Trudeau.

Perry left the U.S. attorney’s office to work as chief ethics officer for Cook County State’s Attorney Kim Foxx. She left the office while Foxx’s administration was under scrutiny for abruptly dismissing charges against “Empire” actor Jussie Smollett.

A special prosecutor later took up the case, and Smollett was found guilty of filing a false police report for falsely reporting to be a victim of a hate crime.

The U.S. attorney’s office in Chicago is one of the busiest in the nation, handling everything from terrorism, gang conspiracies and bank robberies to financial fraud and political corruption. The office has more than 300 employees, including about 130 prosecutors and more than two dozen attorneys who focus on civil litigation.

Attorney Eric Sussman, a former colleague of Perry’s at the U.S. attorney’s office who later recruited her to work in Foxx’s administration, called Perry a skilled trial lawyer who has shown she can also manage and motivate a large office.

“She is very smart and has the highest integrity,” said Sussman, now a partner at Barnes & Thornburg LLP in Chicago. “She’s used to managing a large organization … at the state’s attorneys office she was in charge of the entire criminal division.”

Sussman also called it “shocking and long overdue” that the city could soon have its first female U.S. attorney.

“There are so many highly qualified female white-collar attorneys in Chicago,” he said.

In addition to her law practice, Perry has also served as a hearing officer for the Chicago Police Board, a panel that decides whether Chicago cops should be fired for disciplinary infractions.

She received a bachelor’s and law degrees from Northwestern University.

Lausch left the U.S. attorney’s office March 11 after more than five years at the helm of some of the city’s most high-profile investigations, including racketeering probes of ex-Ald. Edward Burke and former House Speaker Michael Madigan.

He’s since landed back at Kirkland & Ellis where he’ll serve as partner handling the firm’s government and internal investigations group.

Sussman said Perry’s familiarity with the office and ability to manage people point to a smooth transition should she be confirmed.

“I see those cases going full steam ahead under her leadership,” he said.

jmeisner@chicagotribune.com