Kim McLane Wardlaw
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| Kim McLane Wardlaw | |
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| Incumbent | |
| Assumed office 1998 |
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| Nominated by | Bill Clinton |
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Judge of District Court for the Central District of California
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| In office 1995 – 1998 |
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| Nominated by | Bill Clinton |
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| Born | July 2, 1954 San Francisco, CA |
Kim McLane Wardlaw (born July 2, 1954) is a federal judge on the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit.
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[edit] Education and legal training
Wardlaw earned a bachelor's degree in communications, summa cum laude, from UCLA in 1976 and a law degree from UCLA in 1979. She graduated fifth in her 300-person law school class. She worked as a law clerk for District Judge William P. Gray, and a legal extern for Ninth Circuit Judge Joseph Tyree Sneed III.
[edit] Professional career
Wardlaw joined the law firm of O’Melveny & Myers in 1980 as an associate, and worked at the firm for sixteen years, the final ten as a partner in the firm's litigation department.
[edit] Political involvement
Wardlaw attended the 1992 Democratic National Convention as a delegate for Bill Clinton, and also served as Hillary Clinton's scheduler in California. Wardlaw's husband, Bill, chaired Clinton's two California campaigns for president. In addition, Wardlaw served as then-Los Angeles Mayor Richard Riordan's liaison to the Clinton administration.
[edit] Federal judicial service
President Clinton nominated Wardlaw to the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California on August 10, 1995, with the U.S. Senate confirming Wardlaw to the post on December 26, 1995. Clinton then nominated Wardlaw to the Ninth Circuit on January 27, 1998. The Senate confirmed Wardlaw's nomination in a voice vote on July 31, 1998. U.S. Sen. Dianne Feinstein had recommended Wardlaw for both posts. "I'm extremely happy and grateful that the president nominated me and the Senate confirmed me," Wardlaw told the Los Angeles Times in an article that appeared on August 1, 1998. "I'm very excited about joining the court and looking forward to the challenge, but I'm going to miss my colleagues on the district court very much." Wardlaw, born to a Scotch-Irish father and a Mexican-American mother, was the first ever Hispanic-American woman confirmed by the Senate to a federal appeals court; the second Hispanic-American woman, Sonia Sotomayor, was confirmed by the Senate on October 2, 1998.
[edit] Possible nomination to the Supreme Court
It is widely accepted that Wardlaw would be a front-running candidate if a Supreme Court vacancy should occur under a future Democratic president.
[edit] External links
Official Judicial Profile *[1]
Interview with the legal tabloid Underneath Their Robes *[2]
Ms. JD Profile *[3]
The New Republic on Judge Wardlaw's candidacy for the Supreme Court *[4]
