Faculty

The Honorable Carol Bagley Amon
Chief Judge, United States District Court for the Eastern District of New York

Since April 5, 2011, Judge Amon has served as Chief Judge of the Eastern District and serves on the Judicial Conference of the United States. Judge Amon was a member of the Judicial Committee on Codes of Conduct from 1993 to 2001 and chair from 1998 to 2001. She also served as an advisor to the ABA Joint Commission to Evaluate the Model Code of Judicial Conduct. She is a graduate of William and Mary and the University of Virginia School of Law. Prior to her appointment to the district court in 1990, Judge Amon served as a U.S. Magistrate, Assistant U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of New York, and a trial attorney for the U.S. Department of Justice.

The Honorable Bobby R. Baldock
United States Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit

President Ronald Reagan appointed Judge Baldock to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit in 1985. Previously, Judge Baldock served on the U.S. District Court for the District of New Mexico. During his judicial tenure, Judge Baldock has served the federal courts in numerous administrative capacities. Most recently, he concluded a three-year term as chair of the Committee on Financial Disclosure of the Judicial Conference of the United States. Judge Baldock graduated from the New Mexico Military Institute in 1956 and from the University of Arizona College of Law in 1960. Prior to his appointment to the federal bench, Judge Baldock practiced law for over two decades with Sanders, Bruin & Baldock in Roswell, New Mexico.

The Honorable André Birotte Jr.
United States District Court for the Central District of California

In August 2014 Judge André Birotte Jr. was sworn in as a federal district judge for the U.S. District Court, Central District of California. Judge Birotte had served as U.S. Attorney for the Central District of California since his appointment in 2010 by President Barack Obama. From 2003 to 2010, Judge Birotte served as Inspector General of the Los Angeles Police Department. From 1999 to 2001, he worked as an associate at Quinn Emanuel, where he represented clients in white-collar crime and commercial litigation matters. Prior to joining Quinn Emanuel, Judge Birotte served as an Assistant U.S. Attorney in the Central District of California from 1995 to 1999 and as a deputy public defender in Los Angeles County from 1991 to 1995. Judge Birotte holds an undergraduate degree from Tufts University and a JD from Pepperdine University Caruso School of Law.

The Honorable Jennifer Dorsey
United States District Court for the District of Nevada

Judge Dorsey was appointed to the U.S. District Court for the District of Nevada in 2013. Before taking the bench, she was a partner in the civil litigation firm of Kemp, Jones & Coulthard LLP, which she joined immediately after receiving her JD from Pepperdine in 1997. While in private practice, Judge Dorsey was selected to serve on the Nevada Supreme Court's Committee on Professionalism, was listed among the Top Women in Litigation and Nevada's Legal Elite, and held Martindale-Hubbell's highest AV rating for competency and ethics. She is a member of the UNLV Foundation's Advisory Board and the Pepperdine Caruso School of Law Board of Visitors. She teaches judicial writing for law clerks and externs as an adjunct professor at UNLV's Boyd School of Law.

The Honorable John B. Owens
United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit

The Honorable John B. Owens serves on the Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit. Prior to becoming a federal judge in 2014, he was a partner at Munger, Tolles & Olson LLP and a federal prosecutor for more than 11 years. He served as the Chief of the Criminal Division in the U.S Attorney's Office for the Southern District of California, and received two Director's Awards for his work there. Judge Owens graduated first in his class from Stanford Law School in 1996, where he was an Executive Editor on the Stanford Law Review. After graduation, he served as a law clerk for the Honorable J. Clifford Wallace of the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals and for the Honorable Ruth Bader Ginsburg of the Supreme Court of the United States.

The Honorable Phillip S. Gutierrez
United States District Court for the Central District of California

Judge Gutierrez was appointed to the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California in 2007. Prior to joining the federal bench, Judge Gutierrez served for 10 years as a Superior Court judge in Los Angeles Superior Court and a Municipal Court judge in Whittier Municipal Court. Judge Gutierrez graduated from the University of Notre Dame in 1981 and from the UCLA School of Law in 1984. After graduating from law school, he worked in private practice, specializing in complex business litigation, professional malpractice liability, and insurance coverage issues. In 1988, he joined the law firm of Cotkin & Collins, where he became the managing partner of the Santa Ana, California offices.

The Honorable Sandra Segal Ikuta
United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit

Judge Ikuta was confirmed as a judge of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit in 2006. Before becoming a U.S. Circuit Judge, Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger appointed her to be Deputy Secretary and General Counsel of the California Resources Agency in January 2004. Prior to her political appointment, Judge Ikuta was a partner at the Los Angeles office of O'Melveny & Myers. She joined the law firm in 1990 as an associate and became a partner in 1997. She specialized in environmental and natural resources law. She previously served as a law clerk to U.S. Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O'Connor, 1989 to 1990, and Judge Alex Kozinski of the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals, 1988 to 1989. She received her JD from the UCLA School of Law and a master of science from Columbia University School of Journalism. She earned her undergraduate degree from the University of California, Berkeley. In addition to her duties as an active U.S. Circuit Judge, Judge Ikuta is the chair of the Advisory Committee on Rules of Bankruptcy.

The Honorable Jacqueline H. Nguyen
United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit

Judge Nguyen was appointed to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit in 2012. Judge Nguyen is the first and currently the only Asian American woman on the Federal Court of Appeals. She previously served as a judge in the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California from 2009 to May 2012 and as a Los Angeles Superior Court judge for seven years. Prior to joining the bench, Judge Nguyen was an Assistant United States Attorney in the U.S. Attorney's Office, Central District of California, including a two-year term as a Deputy Chief in the General Crimes Section. She began her legal career in private practice at the law firm of Musick, Peeler & Garrett in Los Angeles. Judge Nguyen cofounded and served as President of the Asian Pacific American Bar Association from 1999 to 2000 and has served on the boards of several bar associations. She graduated from Occidental College in 1987 and received her JD from the UCLA School of Law in 1991.

The Honorable Beverly Reid O'Connell
United States District Court for the Central District of California

On April 15, 2013, the Senate confirmed Judge O'Connell as a federal judge to the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California. Prior to joining the federal bench, Judge O'Connell served as a Superior Court judge at the Los Angeles Superior Court and was the supervising judge of the North Valley District. Judge O'Connell also previously served as an Assistant U.S. Attorney for the Central District of California and as the Deputy Chief of the training section, training all new Assistant U.S. Attorneys in the Greater Los Angeles area. Before serving as a prosecutor, Judge O'Connell was an associate at the law firm of Morrison & Foerster, specializing in litigation. Judge O'Connell also serves as an adjunct professor at Loyola Law School and Pepperdine University Caruso School of Law, teaching basic and advanced trial advocacy skills. She earned a BA from UCLA in 1986, and graduated, magna cum laude, in 1990 from Pepperdine University Caruso School of Law.

The Honorable Virginia A. Phillips
United States District Court for the Central District of California

Chief Judge Phillips was appointed to the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California by President Clinton on November 15, 1999. She was a magistrate judge in the Central District from 1995 until 1999 and served on the California Superior Court for four years before joining the federal bench. Judge Phillips graduated magna cum laude from the University of California, Riverside and received her law degree from the University of California, Berkeley (Boalt Hall). She is a founding member of the Inland Empire chapter of the Federal Bar Association and the Leo A. Deegan American Inn of Court, where she serves as a Judicial Master Emerita and was a member of the board of directors. Before her appointment to the bench, Judge Phillips was a partner in Best, Best & Krieger and served in leadership roles with various community organizations. Her many accolades include the Federal Bar Association's Erwin Chemerinsky Defender of the Constitution Award. The Athena Foundation has recognized her for "professional excellence, community service, and a demonstrated body of work in assisting women to achieve their full potential."

The Honorable Jimmie Reyna
United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit

Judge Reyna serves on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit. Prior to his appointment, Judge Reyna practiced international trade and customs law and policy in Washington, D.C. for over 25 years with Stewart & Stewart (1986-1998), and Williams Mullen (1998- 2011). Judge Reyna served on the U.S. roster of dispute settlement panelists for trade disputes under NAFTA Chapter 19 and the World Trade Organization Dispute Settlement Mechanism (1995-2011). Judge Reyna is the author of two books and numerous articles on trade and customs issues and was the founder and senior coeditor of the Hispanic National Bar Association Journal of Law and Policy. Judge Reyna is a recipient of numerous awards for service to the legal profession, served as national president for the Hispanic National Bar Association and in various leadership positions in the ABA. He received a BA from the University of Rochester and a JD from the University of New Mexico School of Law.

The Honorable Milan D. Smith, Jr.
United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit

Judge Smith was appointed to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit in June 2006. Prior to becoming an appellate judge, Judge Smith was the managing partner at Smith Crane Robinson & Parker LLP, where his practice focused on the negotiating and documenting of complex business and governmental transactions. Judge Smith previously served as the Vice Chair of the California Fair Employment and Housing Commission, President and General Counsel of the Los Angeles State Building Authority, and Chair of the State Bar of California Real Property Finance Subsection of the Real Property Section. He serves on the board of directors for the Western Justice Center and the Ninth Circuit Judicial Circuit Historical Society. He graduated cum laude from Brigham Young University and received his law degree at the University of Chicago. 

The Honorable Martin Barash
U.S.Bankruptcy Judge for the Central District of California

Hon. Martin R. Barash has been a U.S. Bankruptcy Judge for the Central District of California since 2015. Prior to his appointment, Judge Barash was a partner at Klee, Tuchin, Bogdanoff & Stern LLP in Los Angeles. Following law school, he clerked for Judge Procter R. Hug, Jr. of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit. Judge Barash is a member of ABI's Board of Directors and an ex officio director of the Los Angeles Bankruptcy Forum. He has participated as a panelist for these and other legal education organizations, and has served as a guest lecturer at the UCLA School of Law and as an adjunct professor of business law at the California State University at Northridge. Judge Barash has been involved in the local legal community as a pro bono attorney with the Public Counsel Chapter 7 Reaffirmation Hearing Clinic, and is a volunteer judge for various UCLA School of Law programs. He currently serves as a director of the Junior Statesmen Foundation, a national, nonpartisan organization sponsoring civics education programs for high school students. Judge Barash received his A.B. magna cum laude in 1989 from Princeton University and his JD in 1992 from the UCLA School of Law, where he served as member, editor, business manager and symposium editor of the UCLA Law Review.

The Honorable C. Ray Mullins
Chief U.S.Bankruptcy Judge for the Northern District of Georgia

Hon. C. Ray Mullins is Chief U.S. Bankruptcy Judge for the Northern District of Georgia in Atlanta, appointed by the Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals on Feb. 29, 2000 and named chief judge in January 2012. Judge Mullins served as an instructor in the Management Department of Bowling Green State University's School of Business Administration from 1977-82, then joined the Toledo, Ohio, firm of Cooper, Straub, Walinski & Cramer (now Cooper Walinski), focusing primarily on civil litigation. From 1984-86, Judge Mullins taught trial practice as an adjunct professor at the University of Toledo College of Law. In 1987, he joined Kilpatrick & Cody (now Kilpatrick Stockton LLP) in Atlanta and became a partner in 1993, practicing in the firm's Financial Restructuring Group and specializing in chapter 11 matters. He also served as a member of the Trustee Panel for the Northern District of Georgia from 1995-2000. Judge Mullins is a Fellow in the American College of Bankruptcy, a member of ABI's Board of Directors, and a past president of the National Conference of Bankruptcy Judges (2012-13). In March 2013, Chief Justice Roberts appointed Judge Mullins to the board of the Federal Judicial Center. He is also an advisor to the Emory Bankruptcy Developments Law Journal. Judge Mullins received his B.S. in business administration in 1974, his M.B.A. in 1977 from Bowling Green State University, and his JD magna cum laude in 1982 from the University of Toledo College of Law, where he was a member of its law review and Order of the Coif.

The Honorable Barry Russell
U.S.Bankruptcy Judge for the Central District of California

Hon. Barry Russell is a Bankruptcy Judge with the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Central District of California, appointed in 1974. He served as Chief Judge from January 2003 to December 2006, and served on a Bankruptcy Appellate Panel from September 1999 to December 2001. He is a Fellow of the American College of Bankruptcy and has been a faculty member of the Federal Judicial Center in Washington, D.C. since 1977. Judge Russell received the American Bar Association's Franklin N. Flaschener Judicial Award in 1987 as the outstanding judge in the United States in a trial court of special jurisdiction. He was the first American invited by the Supreme People's Court in the People's Republic of China to lecture on the subject of bankruptcy law. In 2000, Judge Russell received the Los Angeles County Bar Association's Dispute Resolution Services' Emil Gumpert Judicial ADR award, and in 2004, he received the Los Angeles County Bar Association's Outstanding Jurist Award. He was also awarded the Lifetime Achievement Award by the Association of Insolvency and Restructuring Advisors (AIRA) in the Bankruptcy and Restructuring Field. The San Fernando Valley Bar Association awarded Judge Russell the Stanley Mosk Legacy of Justice Award, and he was awarded the Judge William L. Norton J. Judicial Excellence Award in 2013. Judge Russell received his B.S. in engineering and his JD from UCLA.

Vikram David Amar
University of Illinois College of Law and the Iwan Foundation Professor of Law

Dean Amar is dean of the University of Illinois College of Law and the Iwan Foundation Professor of Law. Amar joined Illinois in 2015 from the University of California, Davis School of Law, where he was a professor of law and, since 2008, served as the associate dean for academic affairs. Dean Amar is a national authority in constitutional law, federal courts, and civil procedure. He is a coauthor of Constitutional Law: Cases and Materials and a coauthor on a number of volumes of the Wright and Miller Federal Practice and Procedure Treatise. He is also the coauthor of a one-volume treatise on American civil procedure. He earned his bachelor's degree from UC Berkeley and his juris doctor from Yale Law School, where he was an articles editor for the Yale Law Journal. He then clerked for Judge William A. Norris of the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit and for Justice Harry A. Blackmun of the United States Supreme Court.

Erwin Chemerinsky
Dean and Distinguished Professor, University of California, Irvine, School of Law

Dean Chemerinsky is the founding dean of the School of Law, University of California, Irvine. From 2004 to 2008, he was the Alston and Bird Professor of Law, Duke University School of Law. Before that, he was on the USC faculty for over 20 years. Dean Chemerinsky regularly lectures to judges in programs for the Federal Judicial Center, the National Judicial College, and the American Bar Association. He is a graduate of Northwestern University and Harvard Law School. He is the author of seven books and over 200 law review articles. He regularly argues appellate cases, including in the U.S. Supreme Court.

Barry P. McDonald
Professor of Law

Professor McDonald teaches courses in constitutional law, First Amendment law, comparative constitutional law and copyright law. He is a recognized expert on constitutional law and the U.S. Supreme Court. His current projects include a book on the U.S. Constitution entitled Our Dangerous Written Constitution. Professor McDonald graduated with honors from the Northwestern University School of Law. Upon graduation he clerked for the Honorable James K. Logan of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit, and then served as a law clerk to Chief Justice William H. Rehnquist during the 1989-1990 term of the Supreme Court of the United States. Prior to joining the faculty, Professor McDonald worked for the U.S. Department of State, the law firm of Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher, and as general counsel to two different technology companies. He is currently a member of the State Bar of California, the American Bar Association, and the American Association of Law Schools (AALS). Professor McDonald serves on the Scholarly Research Committee of the Southeastern Association of Law Schools (SEALS).

Deanell Reece Tacha
Duane and Kelly Roberts Dean and Professor of Law, Pepperdine Caruso School of Law

Dean Tacha is a graduate of the University of Kansas and the University of Michigan School of Law. She has been a U.S. circuit judge since 1986 in the United States Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit and served as chief judge from 2001 to 2007. She became dean of the Pepperdine Caruso School of Law in 2011. As dean, she has been actively involved in the Judicial Clerkship Institute. She has also been active in the American Inns of Court movement as a spokesperson for enhanced ethics, professionalism, and civility in the legal profession, and served as president for the national board of trustees of the American Inns of Court (2004-2008). She was named recipient of the Devitt Award in 2007 and the John Marshall Award in 2008. In 2012 she was honored by the American Inns of Court with the A. Sherman Christensen Award.