Nancy Torresen (born October 7, 1959) is a
United States district judge of the
United States District Court for the District of Maine. She is the first female judge to serve in the District of Maine.
Early life and education
Torresen received a
Bachelor of Arts from
Hope College in
Holland, Michigan in 1981 and a
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 law ...
from the
University of Michigan Law School 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 or a judicial clerk is a person, generally someone who provides direct counsel and assistance to a lawyer or judge by researching issues and drafting legal opinions for cases before the court. Judicial clerks often play significant ...
for then-District Judge
Conrad K. Cyr
Conrad Keefe Cyr (December 9, 1931 – July 28, 2016) was an American jurist who served as a United States circuit judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the First Circuit from 1989 until his death. He was previously a United States Dist ...
from 1987 to 1988. Between the years 1988 to 1990, Torresen worked at the law firm of
Williams & Connolly
Williams & Connolly LLP is an American law firm based in Washington, D.C. The firm was founded by trial lawyer Edward Bennett Williams in collaboration with Paul Connolly, a former student of his. Williams left the partnership of D.C. firm Hog ...
, where she was based in
Washington, D.C. In 1990, Torresen joined the United States Attorney's Office in Maine, where she handled
civil actions involving United States federal agencies. Between 1994 and 2001, Torresen worked for the
appellate section of the criminal division of the
Maine Attorney General’s Office, where she was responsible for representing the state of Maine in appeals of serious
violent crime 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
In the United States, a federal crime or federal offense is an act that is made illegal by U.S. federal legislation enacted by both the United States Senate and United States House of Representatives and signed into law by the president. Prosec ...
.
Federal judicial service
Torresen was nominated to fill the seat of Judge
D. Brock Hornby
David Brock Hornby (born April 21, 1944) is a senior United States district judge of the United States District Court for the District of Maine.
Early life and education
Hornby was born in 1944 in Brandon, Manitoba, Canada, and was raised there ...
by President
Barack Obama 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.
"Judge Jon D. Levy to Begin Term as Chief Judge", United States District Court for the District of Maine, December 31, 2018
/ref>
See also
*List of first women lawyers and judges in Maine
This is a list of the first women lawyer(s) and judge(s) in Maine. It includes the year in which the women were admitted to practice law (in parentheses). Also included are women who achieved other distinctions such becoming the first in their stat ...
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
People from Bangor, Maine
United States district court judges appointed by Barack Obama
21st-century American judges
University of Michigan Law School alumni
Assistant United States Attorneys
21st-century American women judges