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Lucy Haeran Koh

ruler

Class of 1993-4

Federal Judge

Northern District of California

Profile:

Lucy received her BA magna cum laude from Harvard College and her JD from Harvard Law School. While at Harvard, Lucy was a research assistant, won the Best Brief Award in the Ames Moot Court competition, and completed thesis work in Nigeria on women’s education.

Lucy spent her fellowship year working for the U.S. Senate Committee on the Judiciary. In this capacity, she worked closely with Senator Edward Kennedy’s staff to prepare legislation and briefings and identify and interview witnesses for Congressional hearings. Lucy was also the liaison between the Kennedy staff and other senate offices, staff, and constituents.

Upon completion of her fellowship, Lucy worked for the U.S. Department of Justice as the Special Assistant to the Deputy Attorney General and Legislative Affairs Special Counsel. She has also worked at the U.S. Attorney’s office as the Assistant Attorney General of the Major Frauds Section. A jury instruction Lucy made during her tenure as the Assistant Attorney General is now a model jury instruction for the Ninth Circuit.

Lucy entered private practice in 2000 as a Senior Associate in the litigation department of Wilson, Sonsini, Goodrich & Rosati. She worked as a partner at the firm of McDermott, Will & Embry, LLP and was named one of the “Top 40 under 40” by the Silicon Valley/San Jose Business Journal as a key professional in the Silicon Valley are under the age of 40.

Lucy was appointed to the Superior Court of California  for  the County of Santa Clara, the state's trial court of general jurisdiction, in 2008. In 2010, President Obama appointed her a federal judge for the District of Northern California.

Affiliations

  • Asian Pacific Bar Association of Silicon Valley
  • Santa Clara County Bar Association
  • Korean American Bar Association
  • Korean American Coalition

Publications:

Brian E. Ferguson and Lucy Koh, Litigating Doctrine of Equivalents Cases in the Age of Festo, IP Review (Spring 2004).

Michelle, Anglade, Stefanie Balandis, Lucy Koh, and Peggie Smith, Book Review, bell hooks’ Yearning: Race, Gender, and Cultural Politics, 14 Harvard Women’s Law Journal 225 (1991).