Tana Lin (born September 15, 1966) is a Taiwanese-American lawyer who 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 Western District of Washington United may refer to: Places * United, Pennsylvania, an unincorporated community * United, West Virginia, an unincorporated community Arts and entertainment Films * ''United'' (2003 film), a Norwegian film * ''United'' (2011 film), a BBC Two f ...

. She is the first

Taiwanese American Taiwanese Americans (traditional Chinese, Chinese: 臺灣裔美國人; pinyin: ''Táiwān yì měiguó rén''; Pe̍h-ōe-jī: ''Tâi-Bí-jîn'') are Americans of Taiwanese people, Taiwanese ancestry, including American-born descendants of migrant ...

woman to serve on the district court.

Early life and education

Lin was born in

Taipei , nickname = The City of Azaleas , image_map = , map_caption = , pushpin_map = Taiwan#Asia#Pacific Ocean#Earth , coordinates = , subdivision_type = Country ...

to a

family and moved to the United States as a child. She lived in

Lawrence, Kansas Lawrence is a city in and the county seat of Douglas County, Kansas, United States, and the sixth-largest city in the state. It is in the northeastern sector of the state, astride Interstate 70 in Kansas, Interstate 70, between the Kansas River ...

, while her father was a graduate student at the

University of Kansas The University of Kansas (KU) is a public research university with its main campus in Lawrence, Kansas, United States. Two branch campuses are in the Kansas City metropolitan area on the Kansas side: the university's medical school and hospital ...

before the family eventually settled in

Chicago Chicago is the List of municipalities in Illinois, most populous city in the U.S. state of Illinois and in the Midwestern United States. With a population of 2,746,388, as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the List of Unite ...

. She received her

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 ...

with distinction from

Cornell University Cornell University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university based in Ithaca, New York, United States. The university was co-founded by American philanthropist Ezra Cornell and historian and educator Andrew Dickson W ...

in 1988 and her

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

New York University School of Law The New York University School of Law (NYU Law) is the law school of New York University, a private research university in New York City. Established in 1835, it was the first law school established in New York City and is the oldest survivin ...

in 1991."President Biden Announces Second Slate of Judicial Nominees", White House, April 29, 2021

Career

Lin began her legal career as a staff attorney at the

Public Defender Service for the District of Columbia The Public Defender Service (PDS) for the District of Columbia provides legal defense to individuals on a court-appointed basis for criminal (at the trial and appellate levels) and delinquency cases indigent adult and juvenile defendants/ respond ...

from 1991 to 1995. From 1995 to 1999, she was an attorney with the

United States Department of Justice The United States Department of Justice (DOJ), also known as the Justice Department, is a United States federal executive departments, federal executive department of the U.S. government that oversees the domestic enforcement of Law of the Unite ...

Employment Litigation Section. From 1999 to 2001, she was a senior trial attorney at the United States Equal Employment Opportunity Commission's Chicago district office. From 2001 to 2004, she was the litigation coordinator at the Michigan Poverty Law Program. From 2004 to 2021, she was with

Keller Rohrback Keller Rohrback is an American plaintiffs' law firm. Founded in 1919, the firm is headquartered in Seattle, Washington, with additional offices in Portland, Denver, Oakland, New York, Phoenix, Missoula, and Santa Barbara. Tana Lin was of counsel ...

, first as an associate from 2004 to 2007, as a partner from 2008 to 2019, and as

of counsel Of counsel is the title of an attorney in the legal profession of the United States who often has a relationship with a law firm or an organization but is neither an associate nor partner. Some firms use titles such as "counsel", "special couns ...

from 2020 to 2021. Lin served on the board of directors for the

American Civil Liberties Union The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) is an American nonprofit civil rights organization founded in 1920. ACLU affiliates are active in all 50 states, Washington, D.C., and Puerto Rico. The budget of the ACLU in 2024 was $383 million. T ...

(ACLU) of Washington from 2016 to 2021 and as the board's president 2019 to 2021.

Federal judicial service

On April 29, 2021, President

Joe Biden Joseph Robinette Biden Jr. (born November 20, 1942) is an American politician who was the 46th president of the United States from 2021 to 2025. A member of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party, he served as the 47th vice p ...

nominated Lin to serve as a

for the

to the seat vacated by Judge Marsha J. Pechman, who assumed senior status on February 6, 2016. On June 9, 2021, a hearing on her nomination was held before the

Senate Judiciary Committee The United States Senate Committee on the Judiciary, informally known as the Senate Judiciary Committee, is a Standing committee (United States Congress), standing committee of 22 U.S. senators whose role is to oversee the United States Departm ...

. On July 15, 2021, her nomination was reported out of committee by an 11–10 vote, with Senator

Lindsey Graham Lindsey Olin Graham (; born July 9, 1955) is an American politician and attorney serving as the Seniority in the United States Senate, senior United States Senate, United States senator from South Carolina, a seat he has held since 2003. A membe ...

passed on the vote. On October 21, 2021, the

United States Senate The United States Senate is a chamber of the Bicameralism, bicameral United States Congress; it is the upper house, with the United States House of Representatives, U.S. House of Representatives being the lower house. Together, the Senate and ...

invoked cloture on her nomination by a 52–47 vote. Her nomination was confirmed later that day by a 52–45 vote. She received her commission on November 23, 2021. She was sworn in on December 8, 2021. Lin became the district's first Asian American

Article III judge Federal tribunals in the United States are those tribunals established by the federal government of the United States for the purpose of resolving disputes involving or arising under federal laws, including questions about the constitutionality ...

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Lin, Tara 1966 births Living people 20th-century American women lawyers 20th-century American lawyers 21st-century American women lawyers 21st-century American lawyers 21st-century American women judges American jurists of Taiwanese descent Cornell University alumni Judges of the United States District Court for the Western District of Washington New York University School of Law alumni People from Taipei Public defenders Seattle University faculty Taiwanese emigrants to the United States United States Department of Justice lawyers United States district court judges appointed by Joe Biden Washington (state) lawyers

Early life and education

Career

Federal judicial service

See also

References

External links