rulings.law - Judge Melissa R. Mccormick Judicial Profile

Judge Melissa R. Mccormick Judicial Profile

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

Chamberlan v. Ford Motor Company: The Ninth Circuit Identifies Criteria for Evaluating Requests for Permission to Appeal Class Certification Orders - ABTL-Orange County Report - Summer 2005

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