Mustafa Taher Kasubhai is a

United States magistrate judge In United States federal courts, magistrate judges are judges appointed to assist U.S. district court judges in the performance of their duties. Magistrate judges generally oversee first appearances of criminal defendants, set bail, and condu ...

for the

United States District Court for the District of Oregon The United States District Court for the District of Oregon (in case citations, D. Ore. or D. Or.) is the federal district court whose jurisdiction comprises the state of Oregon. It was created in 1859 when the state was admitted to the Union. ...

. He previously served as a judge on the Lane County Circuit Court from 2007 to 2018.

Early life and career

Kasubhai was born in

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the wor ...

California California is a state in the Western United States, located along the Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the most populous U.S. state and the 3rd largest by area. It is also the ...

in 1970, and grew up in the Los Angeles suburb

Canoga Park Canoga Park is a neighborhood in the San Fernando Valley region of the City of Los Angeles, California. Before the Mexican–American War, the district was part of a rancho, and after the American victory it was converted into wheat farms and the ...

. His parents are

Indian Indian or Indians may refer to: Peoples South Asia * Indian people, people of Indian nationality, or people who have an Indian ancestor ** Non-resident Indian, a citizen of India who has temporarily emigrated to another country * South Asia ...

immigrants, having moved to the United States from

Mumbai Mumbai (, ; also known as Bombay — the official name until 1995) is the capital city of the Indian state of Maharashtra and the ''de facto'' financial centre of India. According to the United Nations, as of 2018, Mumbai is the secon ...

in the 1960s. Kasubhai graduated from the

University of California, Berkeley The University of California, Berkeley (UC Berkeley, Berkeley, Cal, or California) is a public land-grant research university in Berkeley, California. Established in 1868 as the University of California, it is the state's first land-grant u ...

in 1992, with a degree in business administration. He completed his

Juris Doctor The Juris Doctor (J.D. or JD), also known as Doctor of Jurisprudence (J.D., JD, D.Jur., or DJur), is a graduate-entry professional degree in law and one of several Doctor of Law degrees. The J.D. is the standard degree obtained to practice l ...

degree at the

University of Oregon School of Law The University of Oregon School of Law is a public law school in the U.S. state of Oregon. Housed in the Knight Law Center, it is Oregon's only state funded law school. The school, founded in 1884, is located on the University of Oregon campus in ...

in 1996, where he served as an associate editor on the Oregon Law Review, a graduate teaching fellow for the

University of Oregon The University of Oregon (UO, U of O or Oregon) is a public research university in Eugene, Oregon. Founded in 1876, the institution is well known for its strong ties to the sports apparel and marketing firm Nike, Inc, and its co-founder, billion ...

, and President of the Student Bar Association. Kasubhai began his private legal career in a small civil plaintiff’s firm until he opened his own practice, the Law Offices of Mustafa T. Kasubhai. He worked primarily between

Klamath Falls Klamath Falls ( ) is a city in and the county seat of Klamath County, Oregon, United States. The city was originally called ''Linkville'' when George Nurse founded the town in 1867. It was named after the Link River, on whose falls the city wa ...

and

Eugene, Oregon Eugene ( ) is a city in the U.S. state of Oregon. It is located at the southern end of the Willamette Valley, near the confluence of the McKenzie and Willamette rivers, about east of the Oregon Coast. As of the 2020 United States Census ...

serving a wide geographic area including rural communities, representing workers and unions in workers compensation cases and plaintiffs in civil cases primarily involving torts and work-related injuries. In 2003, then Governor of Oregon

Ted Kulongoski Theodore Ralph Kulongoski ( ; born November 5, 1940) is an American politician, judge, and lawyer who served as the 36th Governor of Oregon from 2003 to 2011. A member of the Democratic Party, he served in both houses of the Oregon Legislative As ...

nominated Kasubhai to serve on the Oregon Workers’ Compensation Board as one of its labor members in Salem, Oregon. He remained there until joining the state bench 2007. Kasubhai has been an active member of a number of Oregon legal associations and diversity groups including the Oregon State Bar Board of Bar Examiners, the Dean’s Advisory Council for the University of Oregon School of Law, Lane County Bar Association, Oregon Asian Pacific American Bar Association (OAPABA), Oregon Gay and Lesbian Lawyers Association (OGALA), and the Oregon chapters of Hispanic Bar Association and South Asian Bar Association. He received the Daniel K. Inouye Trailblazer Award from the

National Asian Pacific American Bar Association The National Asian Pacific American Bar Association (NAPABA) is a nonprofit organization representing Asian Pacific American lawyers in the United States. ational Asian Pacific American Bar Association Employer Identification Number (EIN): 77-02333 ...

(NAPABA) in 2018, and the Justice Lynn Nakamoto Trailblazer Award from OAPABA that same year. Kasubhai also co-founded the Oregon Mediation Diversity Project in 2020.

Judicial Service

Governor Kulongoski appointed Kasubhai as a judge on the Lane County Circuit Court in 2007. He was re-elected to another six-year term in 2014. Kasubhai was selected to join the federal bench in September 2018 from a pool of more than 50 applicants. Kasubhai is the first Muslim-American to serve on the federal bench in the United States and was the first

South Asian South Asia is the southern Subregion#Asia, subregion of Asia, which is defined in both geography, geographical and culture, ethno-cultural terms. The region consists of the countries of Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Maldives, Nepal, ...

-American and Muslim-American judge to be appointed to the Lane County Circuit Court. Kasubhai regularly presents at continuing legal education programs and legal events.

Personal life

In his spare time, Kasubhai enjoys woodworking, renovating his home, and power tools.

External links

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kasubhai, Mustafa T. Living people Federal judiciary of the United States University of Oregon School of Law alumni Haas School of Business alumni Eugene, Oregon 1970 births

Early life and career

Judicial Service

Personal life

External links

See also

References