Lucy H. Koh

Lucy H. Koh is an American jurist who has served on the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit since 2024 after a tenure on the United States District Court for the Northern District of California. She is known for presiding over high‑profile technology, antitrust, and civil rights matters that intersect with Silicon Valley companies, federal agencies, and national policy debates. Koh's career spans private practice, government service, and academia, reflecting engagement with major legal institutions and leading law firms.

Early life and education

Koh was born in Detroit, Michigan, and raised in San Francisco and Milpitas, California, where she attended local public schools before matriculating at Harvard College and Harvard Law School. While at Harvard College she studied alongside students from Yale University, Princeton University, and Stanford University and participated in campus activities that connected her with alumni networks at The White House and U.S. Department of State. At Harvard Law School she was a classmate of future attorneys and judges who later joined institutions such as the Supreme Court of the United States, United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit, and major law firms including Kirkland & Ellis and Covington & Burling.

Legal career

Koh began her legal career clerking for judges on the United States District Court for the District of Massachusetts and then worked in private practice with firms that included Cooley LLP and Morrison & Foerster. She served as an Assistant United States Attorney in the United States Attorney's Office for the Northern District of California and as a civil litigator representing clients in disputes involving Apple Inc., Google LLC, Oracle Corporation, and other technology companies. Koh's practice engaged with matters before the Federal Trade Commission, United States Department of Justice Antitrust Division, and state attorneys general from jurisdictions such as California and New York. Her work also intersected with nonprofit organizations including the American Civil Liberties Union and academic centers at Stanford Law School and University of California, Berkeley School of Law.

Federal judicial service

Koh was nominated to the United States District Court for the Northern District of California by Barack Obama and confirmed in 2010, succeeding a judge elevated to the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit. On the district bench she managed civil and criminal dockets that included patent litigation, class actions, and constitutional claims involving parties like Samsung Electronics, Intel Corporation, and Facebook, Inc.. In 2024 she was nominated to the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit by Joe Biden and confirmed by the United States Senate, joining colleagues from circuits including the United States Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit and the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit.

Notable cases and rulings

Koh presided over multidistrict litigation and technology disputes involving Apple Inc. and Samsung Electronics that implicated issues in the Patent Act and consumer protections enforced by the Federal Trade Commission. She handled class actions against Google LLC and privacy suits implicating Facebook, Inc. and WhatsApp, addressing questions that reached stakeholders such as the European Commission and state regulators from California and Massachusetts. Koh issued rulings on employment discrimination claims brought under statutes enforced by the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission and civil rights suits that attracted attention from organizations including the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People and the Asian American Legal Defense and Education Fund. Her opinions have been cited in appeals before the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit and have been discussed in analyses by scholars at Harvard Law School, Yale Law School, and Columbia Law School.

Academic and professional affiliations

Koh has lectured at law schools including Stanford Law School, University of California, Berkeley School of Law, and Harvard Law School and has been active in professional organizations such as the American Bar Association, the Federal Judicial Center, and the National Asian Pacific American Bar Association. She has participated in panels with judges from the United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit, legal scholars from New York University School of Law and practitioners from firms like Morrison & Foerster and Covington & Burling. Koh has received recognition from civic groups including the California State Bar and community organizations in the San Francisco Bay Area.

Category:1968 births Category:Living people Category:United States federal judges Category:Harvard Law School alumni