Meet Judge Sherilyn Peace Garnett (c.d. Cal.)

• Jurisdiction: United States,Federal
• Author: Submitted by the Committee on Federal Courts
• Citation: Vol. 36 No. 2
• Publication year: 2023

MEET JUDGE SHERILYN PEACE GARNETT (C.D. CAL.)

Submitted by the Committee on Federal Courts

Judge Garnett was confirmed as a judge for the Central District of California in April 2022. Before becoming a federal district judge, she served as a Los Angeles County Superior Court judge, appointed by Governor Jerry Brown in 2014. Before that, from 2001 to 2014, she was an Assistant United States Attorney in the Central District of California where she served as Domestic Terrorism Coordinator, Deputy Chief of the General Crimes Section, and Chief of the General Crimes Section. From 2008 to 2010, Judge Garnett also taught Legal Writing and Oral Advocacy at the University of Southern California Gould School of Law.

Before joining the U.S. Attorney's Office, Judge Garnett worked as an associate at Arnold & Porter, LLC from 1999 to 2000. From 1998 to 1999, Judge Garnett served as a law clerk to the Honorable Barry Ted Moskowitz on the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of California. Following law school, from 1995 to 1998, Judge Garnett worked as an associate at Altheimer & Gray, LLP in Chicago. Judge Garnett received her B.A. with honors from the University of California, Riverside in 1991, and her J.D. from Harvard Law School in 1995.

In this interview, Judge Garnett discusses what motivated her to pursue the bench, her experience transitioning from state court to federal court, the experiences that influenced her as a jurist, her views on what makes a successful advocate, and the importance of civility in the courtroom, both to opposing counsel and to court personnel.

Before joining the federal bench, you had a distinguished career in public service and private practice and as a litigation associate at firms in Chicago and Los Angeles. What made you decide to become a federal judge?

I had reached a point in my career as an AUSA and in life where I felt I was ready to serve the community in a more neutral way and had wonderful mentors who were encouraging me to pursue a judicial role, so I applied. Later, I applied to the federal bench because I believed my background and varied litigation experience, especially handling cases in federal court, would allow me to contribute to the federal bench in a meaningful way. I had wonderful role models and mentors supporting and encouraging me along the journey.

I did not start my legal career with the intention of becoming either a state or federal judge. It truly was not something I had considered until shortly...