Tessa M. Gorman (born 1970/1971) is an American

lawyer A lawyer is a person who practices law. The role of a lawyer varies greatly across different legal jurisdictions. A lawyer can be classified as an advocate, attorney, barrister, canon lawyer, civil law notary, counsel, counselor, solic ...

from Washington who is the United States Attorney for the

Western District of Washington The United States District Court for the Western District of Washington (in case citations, W.D. Wash.) is the federal district court whose jurisdiction comprises the following counties of the state of Washington: Clallam, Clark, Cowlitz, Grays ...

. In January 2024, Attorney General Merrick Garland appointed Gorman to the position, after she had served as Acting United States Attorney for six months. In May 2024, the judges of the United States District Court for the Western District of Washington appointed Gorman to continue as the United States Attorney for the district. Gorman previously served as Acting United States Attorney in 2021. She served as Criminal Chief for the office from 2013 to 2019, and in 2019, she was named First Assistant United States Attorney. Gorman began her legal career in 1998 as an attorney in the Department of Justice's prestigious Honors Program. In 2018, with the support of Senators Patty Murray and Maria Cantwell, President Donald Trump announced that he planned to nominate Gorman to become a United States district judge of the same court, but the nomination was never submitted to the U.S. Senate due to the Washington senators' opposition to the White House's Ninth Circuit nominee.

Education

Gorman earned her Bachelor of Arts from Yale University, where she was a member of the varsity track and field team, and her

Juris Doctor The Juris Doctor (J.D. or JD), also known as Doctor of Jurisprudence (J.D., JD, D.Jur., or DJur), is a graduate-entry professional degree in law and one of several Doctor of Law degrees. The J.D. is the standard degree obtained to practice law ...

from the UC Berkeley School of Law, where she served as an editor of the '' California Law Review''."President Donald J. Trump Announces Sixteenth Wave of Judicial Nominees, Sixteenth Wave of United States Attorney Nominees, and Eleventh Wave of United States Marshal Nominees" White House, July 13, 2018

Legal career

After graduating from law school, Gorman served as a

law clerk A law clerk or a judicial clerk is a person, generally someone who provides direct counsel and assistance to a lawyer or judge by researching issues and drafting legal opinions for cases before the court. Judicial clerks often play significant ...

to Judge

Douglas P. Woodlock Douglas Preston Woodlock (born February 27, 1947) is a United States federal judge of the United States District Court for the District of Massachusetts. Born in Connecticut, Woodlock graduated from Yale College and worked as a journalist befo ...

of the United States District Court for the District of Massachusetts. After completing her clerkship, Gorman served as an Honors Trial Attorney in the United States Department of Justice Criminal Division, assigned to the Narcotics and Dangerous Drugs Section. She currently serves as an

Assistant United States Attorney An assistant United States attorney (AUSA) is an official career civil service position in the U.S. Department of Justice composed of lawyers working under the U.S. Attorney of each U.S. federal judicial district. They represent the federal gove ...

for the

, where she serves as the First Assistant United States Attorney. On March 1, 2021, she became the Acting U.S. Attorney after the resignation of

Brian T. Moran Brian T. Moran is an American attorney who served as the United States Attorney for the Western District of Washington from 2019 to 2021. He was previously of counsel at the law firm Orrick, Herrington & Sutcliffe in Seattle, Washington. Educa ...

and again in 2023, after the resignation of Nicholas W. Brown.

Nomination to district court

On July 13, 2018, President Donald Trump announced his intention to nominate Gorman to a seat on the

United States District Court for the Western District of Washington The United States District Court for the Western District of Washington (in case citations, W.D. Wash.) is the federal district court whose jurisdiction comprises the following counties of the state of Washington: Clallam, Clark, Cowlitz, Grays H ...

. Gorman was to be nominated to the seat on the

vacated by Judge

Robert S. Lasnik Robert Stephen Lasnik (born 1951) is an American attorney and jurist, who serves as a senior United States district judge of the United States District Court for the Western District of Washington. Education and career Born in Staten Island, ...

, who took senior status on January 27, 2016. However, due to a dispute between the White House and Washington's Senators over a separate nomination, the nomination was never submitted to the Senate.

References

1970s births Living people 21st-century American lawyers 21st-century American women lawyers Assistant United States Attorneys People from Ukiah, California United States Department of Justice lawyers UC Berkeley School of Law alumni Washington (state) lawyers Yale College alumni {{US-law-bio-stub