Bolch Institute | Judgment Calls: A Conversation with Judge Jacqueline Nguyen

Judge Jacqueline Nguyen of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit joined Professor David F. Levi, director of the Bolch Judicial Institute, for a discussion about her career and time on the bench.

Judge Nguyen was confirmed to the U.S. Court of Appeals on May 7, 2012, and is the first Asian American woman to serve on a federal court of appeals. Prior to her confirmation, she was the first Asian American woman to serve as a district judge on the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California. She began her judicial career as a trial judge on the Superior Court for the County of Los Angeles, serving from 2002 to 2009.

Prior to taking the bench, she spent seven years as a federal prosecutor in the U.S Attorney's Office in Los Angeles where she also served as a Deputy Chief in charge of training new Assistant U.S. Attorneys. She began her legal career in private practice. Judge Nguyen received her A.B. from Occidental College in 1987, and her J.D. from UCLA Law School in 1991.