Lorna Gail Tiangco Schofield (born January 22, 1956) is a
United States district judge
The United States district courts are the trial courts of the U.S. federal judiciary. There is one district court for each federal judicial district, which each cover one U.S. state or, in some cases, a portion of a state. Each district cou ...
of the
.
Biography
Schofield was born January 22, 1956, grew up in
New Haven, Indiana
New Haven is a city in Adams, Jefferson, and St. Joseph townships, Allen County, Indiana, United States. It sits to the east of the city of Fort Wayne, the second largest city in Indiana, and is situated mostly along the southern banks of the Ma ...
, and graduated from New Haven Senior High School in 1974. She was elected as
Governor
A governor is an administrative leader and head of a polity or political region, ranking under the head of state and in some cases, such as governors-general, as the head of state's official representative. Depending on the type of political ...
of
Hoosier Girls State, a program of the American Legion Auxiliary, in 1973. Schofield received her
Bachelor of Arts
Bachelor of arts (BA or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts degree course is generally completed in three or four year ...
degree from
Indiana University
Indiana University (IU) is a system of public universities in the U.S. state of Indiana.
Campuses
Indiana University has two core campuses, five regional campuses, and two regional centers under the administration of IUPUI.
*Indiana Universi ...
in 1977. She received her
Juris Doctor from the
New York University School of Law
New York University School of Law (NYU Law) is the law school of New York University, a private research university in New York City. Established in 1835, it is the oldest law school in New York City and the oldest surviving law school in N ...
in 1981.
From 1981 to 1984, she was an associate at the law firm of
Cleary, Gottlieb, Steen & Hamilton
Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton LLP (known as Cleary Gottlieb) is an American multinational law firm headquartered at One Liberty Plaza in New York City. Known as a white shoe law firm, Cleary employs over 1,200 lawyers worldwide.
History
The ...
. From 1984 to 1988, she served as an
Assistant United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, prosecuting domestic terrorism, smuggling and tax fraud. She became an associate at the law firm of
Debevoise & Plimpton
Debevoise & Plimpton LLP (often shortened to Debevoise) is an international law firm headquartered in New York City. Founded in 1931 by Harvard Law School alumnus Eli Whitney Debevoise and Oxford-trained William Stevenson, the firm was origi ...
LLP in
New York City
New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the Un ...
in 1988 and was promoted to partner in 1991. She specialized in complex civil litigation and white collar
criminal defense.
In addition, she has been heavily involved with the
American Bar Association
The American Bar Association (ABA) is a voluntary bar association of lawyers and law students, which is not specific to any jurisdiction in the United States. Founded in 1878, the ABA's most important stated activities are the setting of aca ...
, holding a number of leadership positions, including Chair of the Section on Litigation.
Federal judicial service
On April 25, 2012, President
Barack Obama
Barack Hussein Obama II ( ; born August 4, 1961) is an American politician who served as the 44th president of the United States from 2009 to 2017. A member of the Democratic Party, Obama was the first African-American president of the ...
nominated Schofield to serve as a United States District Judge for the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York, to the seat vacated by Judge
Shira A. Scheindlin. Schofield is the first Filipino American in the history of the United States to serve as an Article III federal judge. Schofield testified before the United States Senate Judiciary Committee on June 6, 2012. The committee reported Schofield's nomination to the full Senate on July 12, 2012. The Senate confirmed Schofield on December 13, 2012, by a 91–0 vote.
She received her commission on December 13, 2012.
See also
*
List of Asian American jurists
Research history
Studies led by California Supreme Court Justice Goodwin Liu (2017) and the Center for American Progress (2019) Full report: provided in-depth statistics into the issue.
Judicial officers
This is a dynamic list of Asian Ameri ...
*
List of first women lawyers and judges in New York
This is a list of the first women lawyer(s) and judge(s) in New York. It includes the year in which the women were admitted to practice law (in parentheses). Also included are women who achieved other distinctions such becoming the first in their s ...
*
List of first women lawyers and judges in the United States
This list of the first women lawyers and judges in each state of the United States includes the years in which the women were admitted to practice law. Also included are women of other distinctions, such as the first in their states to get law de ...
References
External links
*
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Schofield, Lorna G.
1956 births
Living people
21st-century American judges
American jurists of Filipino descent
Assistant United States Attorneys
Indiana University Bloomington alumni
Judges of the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York
New York (state) lawyers
New York University School of Law alumni
People from Fort Wayne, Indiana
People from New Haven, Indiana
United States district court judges appointed by Barack Obama
People associated with Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton
21st-century American women judges
People associated with Debevoise & Plimpton