Judge Melissa Rush McCormick received her B.A. in political science with honors and distinction from Stanford University and her J.D. from UCLA School of Law where she was editor of the UCLA Law Review. She passed the California bar in 1995 and then worked as a law clerk for the Honorable Judith N. Keep at the U.S. District Court, Southern District of California and then the Honorable Emilio M. Garza at the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit. In 1997, she joined Irell and Manella, becoming partner in 2004. Her practice areas included litigation, intellectual property, class action defense, and insurance. She was President of the Board of Governors of the Association of Business Trial Lawyers (Orange County), President of the Board of Directors of the Constitutional Rights Foundation (Orange County), Ninth Circuit Judicial Conference Lawyer Representative, Board of Directors of the Federal Bar Association (Orange County), and Orange County Bar Association Board of Directors. She was appointed to the bench by Governor Jerry Brown in 2015. She is married to Federal Magistrate Judge Douglas McCormick.
Awards
2011 Volunteer of the Year – Constitutional Rights Foundation (Orange County)
2013 Women Leaders in the Law – American Lawyer Media
2010 Most Powerful and Influential Women in California - California Diversity Magazine
2010-2015 Best Lawyers in America
2004-2015 Southern California Super Lawyers – Los Angeles Magazine
Author
Presentations
Robotics and the Law – 2014 California Appellate Justices Institute
When Things Go Wrong With Evidence at Trial – 2006 Association of Business Trial Lawyers Annual Seminar
Last Dash program – 2005 Orange County Bar Association
Presentation on electronic discovery – 2002 Association of Business Trial Lawyers
You’ve Come A Long Way Baby – And Where Do You Go From Here? – 2000 American Bar Association annual meeting
Links
Orange County Superior Court - Local Rules
The Robing Room - Hon. Melissa R. McCormick
Melissa R. McCormick - Ballotpedia
Q&A with Melissa R. McCormick - ABTL-Orange County Report
Two Irell Partners Appointed to Judgeships by Governor Brown - Irell and Manella
Governor Brown Announces Orange County Judicial Appointments - Orange County Bar Association