Schmehl received his Bachelor of Arts degree in 1977 from Dickinson College.

He served as an Assistant Public Defender in Berks County, Pennsylvania, from 1980 to 1981.

From 1981 to 1986, he served as an Assistant District Attorney in Berks County and also worked as a sole practitioner in West Reading.

[3] He was nominated as part of a bipartisan package of nominees which included Nitza I. Quiñones Alejandro and L. Felipe Restrepo.

[5] On January 2, 2013, his nomination was returned to the President, due to the sine die adjournment of the Senate.