Michelle Friedland

Michelle Friedland
Judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit
Incumbent
Assumed office April 29, 2014
Appointed by	Barack Obama
Preceded by	Raymond Fisher
Personal details
Born	July 1972 (age 52) Berkeley, California, U.S.
Alma mater	Stanford University University of Oxford

Michelle Taryn Friedland (born July 1972) is a United States Circuit Judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit.

Biography

Early life and education

Friedland was born in Berkeley, California. She received a Bachelor of Science degree in ecology and population biology in 1995 from Stanford University, graduating Phi Beta Kappa. She then studied philosophy at Oxford University as a Fulbright scholar, returning to California for law school. She received a Juris Doctorate in 2000 from Stanford Law School, graduating Order of the Coif and second in her class. She served as a law clerk to Judge David Tatel of the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit and then served as a law clerk to Justice Sandra Day O'Connor of the United States Supreme Court. She completed a two year lectureship at Stanford Law School, before joining her current firm.

Professional career

Friedland currently serves as a litigation partner in the San Francisco office of Munger, Tolles & Olson LLP. She joined the firm in 2004 as an associate, becoming a partner in January 2010. She has extensive litigation experience at the state and federal trial court and appellate levels, including litigating before the United States Supreme Court.

During her legal career, Friedland has represented a number of corporate clients in cases involving a wide range of legal issues, including antitrust, tax, patent, copyright, and consumer class actions. She also has frequently represented the University of California in cases involving constitutional issues. She maintains an active pro bono practice, for which the State Bar of California recently named her company a recipient of the 2013 President’s Pro Bono Service Award. Friedland also has served as an adjunct professor at the University of Virginia Law School, teaching a course on constitutional issues in higher education.

Federal judicial service

On August 1, 2013, President Barack Obama nominated Friedland to a seat on the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit. She fills the seat that was vacated by Judge Raymond C. Fisher, who took senior status on March 31, 2013. On January 16, 2014, the Senate Judiciary Committee voted to forward her nomination to the full Senate in a 14-3 committee vote. Cloture was filed on her nomination on April 8, 2014. On April 10, 2014 the motion to invoke cloture was agreed to by a vote of 56-41. On April 28, 2014 her nomination was confirmed by a final vote of 51-40. She received her judicial commission on April 29, 2014.

Friedland is currently the youngest serving federal appellate court judge in the nation. At age 41, Judge Friedland ranks fourth among the youngest appointees to the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals.

Personal

Friedland is married to Daniel Kelly and lives in Mountain View, California.

External links

• Michelle Taryn Friedland at the Biographical Directory of Federal Judges, a publication of the Federal Judicial Center.