Senate Confirms Superior Court Judge Anne Hwang as United States District Judge for the Central District of California

On December 2, 2024, the United States Senate confirmed President Joe Biden’s nomination of Los Angeles County Superior Court Judge Anne Hwang to serve as a federal district judge in the United States District Court for the Central District of California.  Judge Hwang will preside over matters in Los Angeles in the Court’s Western Division.

Judge Hwang has served as a Superior Court Judge for Los Angeles County since 2019 following her appointment by Governor Jerry Brown.  She has presided over civil and criminal matters.  Judge Hwang has also served on the Los Angeles County Superior Court’s Technology, Bail, Bench and Bar, Community Outreach, Rules, and Trial Jurors Committees.  

Prior to her appointment as a Superior Court Judge, from 2006 to 2018, Judge Hwang served in multiple roles at the Federal Public Defender’s Office for the Central District of California.  She served as a Deputy Federal Public Defender from 2006 to 2014, Supervising Deputy Federal Public Defender from 2014 to 2016, Trial Chief Deputy Federal Public Defender in Los Angeles from 2016 to 2018, and Chief Deputy Federal Public Defender in 2018.  Judge Hwang represented clients charged with a broad range of federal offenses and handled all aspects of representation from pre-trial through appeal and post-conviction matters.  She also handled a variety of other federal proceedings, including grand jury investigations, treaty transfer cases, extraditions, and probation and supervised release revocation matters.

Before joining the Federal Public Defender’s Office, from 2002 to 2006, Judge Hwang worked as a litigation associate at Irell & Manella where she had a diverse civil and criminal practice that included business disputes as well as securities and tax fraud criminal cases.  She also maintained an active pro bono practice.

Judge Hwang has been an active participant in the broader legal community as a member of several bar and judges associations, including the California Asian Pacific American Judges Association, California Judges Association, Korean American Bar Association, Los Angeles County Bar Association, Los Angeles Criminal Justice American Inn of Court, Los Angeles Superior Court Judges Association, and National Asian Pacific American Judicial Council.  She also strives to actively engage with law students by serving as a speaker and mentor at several law schools.

Judge Hwang received her Bachelor of Arts degree from Cornell University in 1997 and her Juris Doctor degree from USC Gould School of Law in 2002.

Judge Hwang fills the vacancy that arose when District Judge George H. Wu assumed senior status in November 2023.  The Central District of California has 28 authorized Article III judgeships, two of which are currently unfilled.  The Central District of California is comprised of the counties of Los Angeles, Orange, Riverside, San Bernardino, Ventura, Santa Barbara, and San Luis Obispo.  It serves more than 19.3 million people, nearly half the population of the State of California.

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BRIAN D. KARTH
DISTRICT COURT EXECUTIVE / CLERK OF COURT