Keynote Speaker: The Honorable Edward Chen ’79

The Honorable Edward Chen `79

Keynote Speaker: The Honorable Edward Chen '79

The Honorable Edward Chen ’79, United States District Court for the Northern District of California, was born and raised in Oakland, CA and is a double Bear.

 

After graduating Order of the Coif from Berkeley Law in 1979, Judge Chen served as a law clerk to the Honorable Charles Byron Renfrew at the United States District Court for the Northern District of California and to the Honorable James R. Browning at the United States Court of Appeals for Ninth Circuit. From 1982 until 1985, Judge Chen was an associate at the San Francisco law firm of Coblentz, Cahen, McCabe & Breyer, before joining the American Civil Liberties Union as a staff attorney, specializing in language discrimination as well as First Amendment and equality cases.

 

In April 2001, Judge Chen was named to an eight-year term as a United States Magistrate Judge. Judge Chen was nominated by President Barack Obama to a seat on the United States District Court for the Northern District of California and confirmed in 2011.

 

He serves as co-chair of the Ninth Circuit Fairness Committee and has been active in judicial education.