If confirmed, Shireen Mathews will be the first Indian American to serve as an Article III federal judge in the Southern District of California.
Last week, President Donald Trump nominated Indian American Shireen Mathews as a judge of the US District Court for the Southern District of California.
If Mathews is confirmed, she will be the first Asian Pacific American woman and first Indian American to serve as an Article III federal judge in the Southern District. She is the sixth Indian American to be nominated to the federal judiciary at various levels by Trump.
As she awaits the Senate confirmation, Mathews’ nomination has been widely praised in the legal circles. The South Asian Bar Association of North America has welcomed the nomination calling it historic.
Matthews, a married mom of two young boys, earned her law degree from the Duke University School of Law. She completed her bachelor’s degree, magna cum laude, from Georgetown University in Washington, D.C.
So, as another woman of color is on her way to create history, here’s everything you would want to know about Mathews:
- Currently, Mathews is a partner with Jones Day, an international law firm. Based in San Diego, she specializes in white collar crimes.
- A former federal prosecutor, Mathews now helps companies conduct internal investigations. She regularly defends clients before a range of government agencies. She has defended a wide variety of white-collar criminal cases involving allegations of bribery of public officials, defense contractor fraud, false claims, and health care fraud.
- Before joining Jones Day, Mathews was an Assistant United States Attorney in the Criminal Division of the United States Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of California. Prior to that, she was an associate with Latham and Watkins LLP in San Diego, according to a statement by White House.
- While serving at the U.S. Attorney’s Office in the Southern District of California, Mathews prosecuted violations of the Anti-Kickback Statute, criminal false claims, and aggravated identity theft. Her success stories include uncovering a multimillion dollar fraud involving stolen medical equipment from Camp Pendleton, a health care fraud investigation of a hospital CEO, prosecution of wide-ranging contract fraud by a San Diego-based biotech firm, and obtaining one of the largest individual restitution awards for the Social Security trust fund.
- Mathews serves as a Lawyer Representative for the Ninth Circuit Judicial Conference and is on the Board of Directors for the San Diego Chapter of the South Asian Bar Association.
Neomi Rao grilled over past views on sexual assault at Senate confirmation hearing
Trump nominates Indian American lawyer Neomi Rao to DC Circuit Court of Appeals
San Francisco County gets its first ever Indian American judge
Indian American judge Amul Thapar short-listed by Trump for Supreme Court
Newsmaker: Amit Mehta, the Indian American judge who ruled against President Trump
Rupen R Shah becomes first Indian American judge in Virginia
Indian American K.P. George creates history, takes oath as Fort Bend County judge in Texas