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Eumi K. Lee
Judge of the United States District Court for the Northern District of California
Incumbent
Assumed office May 7, 2024
Appointed by	Joe Biden
Preceded by	William Orrick III
Judge of the Alameda County Superior Court
In office December 7, 2018 – May 7, 2024
Appointed by	Jerry Brown
Preceded by	Alison M. Tucher
Succeeded by	Thomas Eagle Weathers
Personal details
Born	Eumi Kim Lee 1972 (age 51–52) Madison, Wisconsin, U.S.
Political party	Democratic
Education	Pomona College (BA) Georgetown University (JD)

Eumi Kim Lee (born 1972) is an American lawyer who has served as a United States district judge of the United States District Court for the Northern District of California since 2024. She previously served as a judge of the Alameda County Superior Court from 2018 to 2024.

Education

Lee received a Bachelor of Arts from Pomona College in 1994 and a Juris Doctor from Georgetown University Law Center, cum laude, in 1999.

Career

From 1999 to 2000, Lee served as a law clerk for Judge Jerome Turner of the United States District Court for the Western District of Tennessee. From 2000 to 2001, she was an associate at Keker, Van Nest & Peters LLP in San Francisco. From 2001 to 2002, she served as a law clerk for Judge Warren J. Ferguson of the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit. From 2002 to 2005, she was again an associate at the same law firm. From 2005 to 2018, she was a clinical professor of law at the University of California College of the Law, San Francisco (formerly the University of California, Hastings College of the Law). From 2006 to 2012, she was of counsel and a consultant at Gonzalez and Leigh and from 2009 to 2012, she was an ethics trainer for San Diego Gas & Electric, Southern California Gas Company and Southern California Edison. On December 7, 2018, Lee was appointed by Governor Jerry Brown to serve as a judge of the Alameda County Superior Court, to fill the vacancy left by the elevation of Judge Alison M. Tucher to the California Courts of Appeal. She was the first Korean-American judge ever appointed to the Alameda County Superior Court.

Federal judicial service

On July 27, 2023, President Joe Biden nominated Lee to serve as a United States district judge of the United States District Court for the Northern District of California. President Biden nominated Lee to the seat vacated by Judge William Orrick III, who assumed senior status on May 17, 2023. On September 6, 2023, a hearing on her nomination was held before the Senate Judiciary Committee. During her confirmation hearing, Lee was questioned on a journal article she wrote regarding the treatment of transgender, illegal immigrant, and women prisoners in California. Lee responded that the article was a summary of remarks made during conference panel discussion and not her own opinions. On November 9, 2023, her nomination was reported out of committee by an 11–10 vote. On November 13, 2023, her nomination was returned to the Judiciary Committee because of issues regarding proxy voting in committee. On November 30, 2023, during the first committee vote, her nomination failed to be reported out of committee by an 10–0–9 vote with all committee Republicans in attendance not voting, along with Democratic Senator Chris Coons. In a second vote, her nomination was reported out of committee by an 11–10 party-line vote. On January 3, 2024, her nomination was returned to the president under Rule XXXI, Paragraph 6 of the United States Senate and she was renominated on January 8, 2024. On January 18, 2024, her nomination was reported out of committee by an 11–10 party-line vote. On March 20, 2024, the Senate invoked cloture on her nomination by a 50–49 vote, with Senator Joe Manchin voting against the motion. Later that day, her nomination was confirmed by a 50–49 vote, with Senator Manchin voting against confirmation. She received her judicial commission on May 7, 2024.

Community involvement

Prior to her appointment to the bench, she was a member of the Bar Association of San Francisco. Lee is a Democrat.

See also

• List of Asian American jurists
• List of first women lawyers and judges in California
• Joe Biden judicial appointment controversies

References

1. "Questionnaire for Judicial Nominees" (PDF). United States Senate Committee on the Judiciary. Retrieved September 5, 2023.
2. ^ "President Biden Names Thirty-Sixth Round of Judicial Nominees" (Press release). Washington, D.C.: The White House. July 27, 2023. Retrieved July 27, 2023. This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain.
3. ^ "Governor Brown Appoints 13 Superior Court Judges | Governor Edmund G. Brown Jr". www.ca.gov. December 7, 2018. Retrieved 2023-07-27.
4. "Welcome to the Alameda County Bench Eumi Lee! » Alameda County Bar Association". Alameda County Bar Association. December 11, 2018. Retrieved July 27, 2023.
5. Tae-hee, Lee (December 11, 2018). "Korean-American judges gaining presence in US". The Korea Herald. Retrieved July 27, 2023.
6. "Nominations Sent to the Senate" (Press release). Washington, D.C.: The White House. July 27, 2023.
7. "Nominations". Washington, D.C.: United States Senate Committee on the Judiciary. September 5, 2023.
8. "Judiciary Panel Unexpectedly Delays Votes on Biden Judge". November 2, 2023.
9. "Results of Executive Business Meeting – November 9, 2023" (PDF). United States Senate Committee on the Judiciary. Retrieved November 9, 2023.
10. Headley, Tiana. "Judiciary Democrats at Full Strength Advance Biden Court Picks". Bloomberg Law. Retrieved November 9, 2023.
11. "Senate Returns Two District Court Nominations to Judiciary Panel". Bloomberg Law. Retrieved November 14, 2023.
12. "Results of Executive Business Meeting – November 30, 2023" (PDF). United States Senate Committee on the Judiciary. Retrieved November 30, 2023.
13. "PN906 — Eumi K. Lee — The Judiciary". congress.gov. January 8, 2023.
14. "Nominations Sent to the Senate" (Press release). Washington, D.C.: The White House. January 8, 2024.
15. "Results of Executive Business Meeting – January 18, 2024" (PDF). United States Senate Committee on the Judiciary. Retrieved January 19, 2024.
16. "Senate Judiciary Committee Advances Twenty Judicial Nominations, One Executive Nomination to the Full Senate" (Press release). United States Senate Judiciary Committee. January 18, 2024. Retrieved January 18, 2024.
17. "On the Cloture Motion (Motion to Invoke Cloture: Eumi K. Lee to be U.S. District Judge for the Northern District of California)". United States Senate. March 20, 2024. Retrieved March 20, 2024.
18. "On the Nomination (Confirmation: Eumi K. Lee, of California, to be U.S. District Judge for the Northern District of California)". United States Senate. March 20, 2024. Retrieved March 20, 2024.
19. Eumi K. Lee at the Biographical Directory of Federal Judges, a publication of the Federal Judicial Center.
20. "Members Appointed as Superior Court Judges". The Bar Association of San Francisco. December 11, 2018. Retrieved July 27, 2023.

External links

• Eumi K. Lee at the Biographical Directory of Federal Judges, a publication of the Federal Judicial Center.
• Eumi K. Lee at Ballotpedia

• 1972 births
• Living people
• 20th-century American lawyers
• 20th-century American women lawyers
• 21st-century American women judges
• 21st-century American lawyers
• 21st-century American women lawyers
• American jurists of Korean descent
• American women academics
• California Democrats
• California lawyers
• California state court judges
• Georgetown University Law Center alumni
• Judges of the United States District Court for the Northern District of California
• Lawyers from Madison, Wisconsin
• Pomona College alumni
• United States district court judges appointed by Joe Biden
• University of California College of the Law, San Francisco faculty