Nancy Torresen (born 1959) is a

United States district judge The United States district courts are the trial courts of the U.S. federal judiciary. There is one district court for each federal judicial district. Each district covers one U.S. state or a portion of a state. There is at least one feder ...

of the

United States District Court for the District of Maine The U.S. District Court for the District of Maine (in case citations, D. Me.) is the U.S. district court for the state of Maine. The District of Maine was one of the original thirteen district courts established by the Judiciary Act of ...

. She is the first female judge to serve in the District of Maine.

Early life and education

Torresen received a

Bachelor of Arts A Bachelor of Arts (abbreviated B.A., BA, A.B. or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is the holder of a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the liberal arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts deg ...

from

Hope College Hope College is a private Christian liberal arts college in Holland, Michigan, United States. It was originally opened in 1851 as the Pioneer School by Dutch immigrants four years after the community was first settled. The first freshman coll ...

Holland, Michigan Holland is a city in Ottawa County, Michigan, Ottawa and Allegan County, Michigan, Allegan counties in the U.S. state of Michigan. Located in the West Michigan, western region of the Lower Peninsula of Michigan, Lower Peninsula, the city is si ...

in 1981 and a

Juris Doctor A Juris Doctor, Doctor of Jurisprudence, or Doctor of Law (JD) is a graduate-entry professional degree that primarily prepares individuals to practice law. In the United States and the Philippines, it is the only qualifying law degree. Other j ...

from the

University of Michigan Law School The University of Michigan Law School (branded as Michigan Law) is the law school of the University of Michigan, a public research university in Ann Arbor, Michigan. Founded in 1859, the school offers Master of Laws (LLM), Master of Comparati ...

in 1987.Judy Harrison,
Bangor attorney Torresen may be first woman to become federal judge in Maine
(March 3, 2011). ''Bangor Daily News''.

Career

Torresen worked as a

law clerk A law clerk, judicial clerk, or judicial assistant is a person, often a lawyer, who provides direct counsel and assistance to a lawyer or judge by Legal research, researching issues and drafting legal opinions for cases before the court. Judicial ...

for then-District Judge Conrad K. Cyr of the United States District Court for the District of Maine from 1987 to 1988. Between the years 1988 to 1990, Torresen worked at the law firm of

Williams & Connolly Williams & Connolly LLP (often abbreviated to W&C) is an American law firm based in Washington, D.C. known for its specialization in white-collar crime defense. The firm was co-founded by Edward Bennett Williams and Paul Connolly in 1967. Willia ...

, where she was based in

Washington, D.C. Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly known as Washington or D.C., is the capital city and federal district of the United States. The city is on the Potomac River, across from Virginia, and shares land borders with ...

In 1990, Torresen joined the United States Attorney's Office in Maine, where she handled

civil actions A lawsuit is a proceeding by one or more parties (the plaintiff or claimant) against one or more parties (the defendant) in a civil court of law. The archaic term "suit in law" is found in only a small number of laws still in effect today. T ...

involving United States federal agencies. Between 1994 and 2001, Torresen worked for the appellate section of the criminal division of the

Maine Attorney General The Maine Attorney General is the chief legal advisor and prosecutor of the Maine, State of Maine. The constitutional basis of the office is Article IX, Section 11 of the Maine Constitution, and the holder of the position is chosen biennially by t ...

’s Office, where she was responsible for representing the state of Maine in appeals of serious

violent crime A violent crime, violent felony, crime of violence or crime of a violent nature is a crime in which an offender or perpetrator uses or threatens to use harmful Force (law), force upon a victim. This entails both crimes in which the violence, vio ...

convictions. From 2001 until becoming a federal judge in 2011, she worked in the United States Attorney’s Office in Bangor and focused on investigating and prosecuting various federal crimes.

Federal judicial service

Torresen was nominated to fill the seat of Judge D. Brock Hornby by President

Barack Obama Barack Hussein Obama II (born August 4, 1961) is an American politician who was the 44th president of the United States from 2009 to 2017. A member of the Democratic Party, he was the first African American president in American history. O ...

on March 2, 2011. Torresen is the first woman to serve as a federal judge in Maine. The United States Senate confirmed Torresen on October 3, 2011. She received her judicial commission on October 4, 2011. She became Chief Judge on January 6, 2015. She ended her term as Chief Judge on December 31, 2018. She will assume senior status on October 11, 2025.

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Torresen, Nancy 1959 births Hope College alumni Judges of the United States District Court for the District of Maine Living people Lawyers from Bangor, Maine United States district court judges appointed by Barack Obama University of Michigan Law School alumni Assistant United States attorneys 21st-century American women judges

Early life and education

Career

Federal judicial service

See also

References

External links