Edward Milton Chen (born January 20, 1953) is a senior United States district judge of the United States District Court for the Northern District of California and former United States magistrate judge of the same court.
Education and Career
Born and raised in Oakland, California, Chen earned an Artium Baccalaureus degree in 1975 from the University of California, Berkeley and a Juris Doctor from Boalt Hall School of Law in 1979. After graduating law school, Chen clerked for Judge Charles Byron Renfrew of the United States District Court for the Northern District of California from June 1979 to April 1980 and Judge James R. Browning of the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit from June 1981 to June 1982. From 1982 until 1985, Chen served as an associate at the San Francisco law firm of Coblentz, Cahen, McCabe & Breyer In September 1985, Chen became a staff attorney for the American Civil Liberties Union, specializing in language discrimination cases. He held that post until April 2001, when the judges on the United States District Court for the Northern District of California named Chen to an eight-year term as a United States magistrate judge.
Federal Judicial Service
On August 7, 2009, President Barack Obama nominated Chen to a seat on the United States District Court for the Northern District of California vacated by the resignation of Martin Jenkins. On December 24, 2009, the U.S. Senate returned Chen’s nomination to the president. President Obama renominated Chen in January 2010. On August 5, 2010, the U.S. Senate again returned Chen’s nomination. President Obama renominated Chen to the seat on September 13, 2010, and again on January 5, 2011. On May 10, 2011, the United States Senate confirmed Chen. He received his judicial commission on May 12, 2011. Since being confirmed as a District Judge, Chen has been a prolific writer, authoring a number of major opinions. According to one legal news source, Judge Chen is the 4th most-influential district judge appointed since 2010. The same source later named Judge Chen one of the “7 Rising Star Judges You Want to Clerk For.” Chen assumed senior status on May 17, 2022.
Notable Cases
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