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Laura Anne Taylor Swain (born November 21, 1958) is an American lawyer and jurist serving as the chief judge of the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York. She was appointed to the Southern District of New York in 2000 by President Bill Clinton and has served as its chief judge since 2021.

Education and career

Swain was born on November 21, 1958, in Brooklyn. She graduated from Radcliffe College in 1979 with a Bachelor of Arts and from Harvard Law School in 1982 with a Juris Doctor. From 1982 until 1983, Swain worked as a law clerk for Judge Constance Baker Motley of the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York. From 1983 until 1996, Swain worked in private legal practice in New York City, practicing as an associate, and then counsel, in the areas of ERISA, employee benefits, executive compensation and employment law for the firm Debevoise & Plimpton.

Swain also served as a member of the New York State Board of Law Examiners from 1986 to 1996. She chaired the advisory committee for the Federal Rules of Bankruptcy Procedure from 2007 to 2010.

She teaches as an adjunct professor at the Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law (Yeshiva University).

Federal judicial service

Swain was a United States bankruptcy judge for the Eastern District of New York from November 1, 1996, to July 11, 2000. On April 25, 2000, President Clinton nominated Swain to be a United States District Judge of the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York to the seat vacated by Judge Thomas P. Griesa. She was confirmed by the United States Senate on June 16, 2000, and received her commission on July 11, 2000. She became chief judge on April 10, 2021, after Colleen McMahon assumed senior status.

Puerto Rico debt crisis

On May 5, 2017, Chief Justice John Roberts appointed Judge Swain to oversee the debt restructuring case in the Puerto Rican government-debt crisis.

Copyright and authorship cases

Swain's tenure on the District Court bench has included some of the Southern District of New York's high-profile book authorship disputes. In particular, she presided over Lapine v. Seinfeld and Hoover v. Boncompangi. Both cases were widely covered by the press, and were rich fodder for New York's tabloid newspapers.<

Lapine v. Seinfeld

This action was filed by author Missy Chase Lapine against comedian Jerry Seinfeld and his wife, Jessica Seinfeld, asserting that the couple used ideas for Jessica Seinfeld's cookbook Deceptively Delicious: Simple Secrets to Get Your Kids Eating Good Food from Lapine's book The Sneaky Chef: Simple Strategies for Hiding Healthy Foods in Kids' Favorite Meals.

The Seinfelds denied Lapine's claim. Lapine claimed she experienced substantial financial loss.

As a result of comments made by Mr. Seinfeld about the authorship dispute on the Late Show with David Letterman, Lapine included a cause of action for defamation to her suit.

Hoover v. Boncompagni

This action was filed by Tatiana Boncompagni Hoover against her older sister Natasha Boncompagni. Hoover, a New York socialite, professional author, and wife of an heir to the Hoover cleaning founder, accused her sister of making unauthorized electronic copies of her book Hedge Fund Wives.

The court granted an emergency temporary restraining order preventing the older sister from further distribution of the pre-publication manuscript.

The case reached closure in early 2009 when Swain entered a consent order stating, "The Defendant has announced to the Court that she is not a co-author of Hedge Fund Wives and has no authorship or co-authorship rights to the work. The Defendant agrees to release any registered or pending copyrights that she has relating to Hedge Fund Wives, and any domain names or other property relating to Hedge Fund Wives or the Plaintiff’s first novel, Gilding Lily."

Defamation case

On February 19, 2021, Swain dismissed a defamation lawsuit filed by Devin Nunes against CNN. Nunes sought $435 million in damages and claimed that on November 22, 2019, CNN published a false news article and engaged in a conspiracy theory to damage his reputation. Swain noted that under California law, a retraction must be demanded in writing within 20 days of publication, which Nunes failed to request.

See also

• List of African-American federal judges
• List of African-American jurists

References

1. Hearings before the Committee on the Judiciary, United States Senate, One Hundred Sixth Congress, Second Session, on Confirmations of Appointees to the Federal Judiciary, May 25, June 15, July 12, and July 25, 2000. U.S. Government Printing Office. 2001. p. 261.
2. "The Honorable Laura Taylor Swain's Biography". The HistoryMakers. April 28, 2018. Retrieved March 14, 2020.
3. ^ Laura Taylor Swain at the Biographical Directory of Federal Judges, a publication of the Federal Judicial Center.
4. Archived September 25, 2003, at the Wayback Machine
5. Archived December 21, 2014, at the Wayback Machine
6. Brown, Stephen Rex (April 2021). "Manhattan Federal Court gets new chief judge amid coronavirus pandemic". nydailynews.com. Retrieved April 1, 2021.
7. Goldstein, Matthew (May 5, 2017). "Judge in Puerto Rico's Debt Lawsuit Handled Major Financial Cases". The New York Times. Retrieved May 6, 2017.
8. "Jessica Seinfeld's recipes stir up plagiarism accusations". NY Daily News. Retrieved December 21, 2014.
9. "Sister pact! Book flap settled". NY Daily News. Retrieved December 21, 2014.
10. Peter Lattman (January 8, 2008). "Food Fight! Author Sues Seinfelds Over Children's Cookbook". Wall Street Journal. Retrieved December 21, 2014.
11. ^ "Seinfeld Complaint" (PDF). Online.wsj.com. Retrieved December 21, 2014.
12. "Seinfeld v Lapine" (PDF). Amlawdaily.typepad.com. Retrieved December 21, 2014.
13. Dan Slater (October 27, 2008). "Of Copyright & Family Feuds: "Hedge Fund Wives" Goes to Court". Wall Street Journal. Retrieved December 21, 2014.
14. "Hedge Fund Wives Complaint" (PDF). Online.wsj.com. Retrieved December 21, 2014.
15. Dan Slater (October 29, 2008). "In Boncompagni Copyright Suit, Tatiana Gets TRO". Wall Street Journal. Retrieved December 21, 2014.
16. "Boncompagnito Complaint" (PDF). Online.wsj.com. Retrieved December 21, 2014.
17. Jones, Ashby (January 30, 2009). "A Sisterly Settlement: The Boncompagnis Bury the Hatchet". Wall Street Journal. Retrieved December 21, 2014.
18. "Boncompagnito Settlement" (PDF). Online.wsj.com. Retrieved December 21, 2014.
19. https://www.sfgate.com/news/article/Judge-rejects-Rep-Devin-Nunes-defamation-suit-15965052.php SF Gate. February 19, 2021. Retrieved February 19, 2021.

External links

• Laura Taylor Swain at the Biographical Directory of Federal Judges, a publication of the Federal Judicial Center.

• 1958 births
• Living people
• Radcliffe College alumni
• Harvard Law School alumni
• African-American judges
• Judges of the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York
• United States district court judges appointed by Bill Clinton
• Lawyers from Brooklyn
• Judges of the United States bankruptcy courts
• 20th-century American judges
• 21st-century American judges
• 20th-century American women judges
• 21st-century American women judges