Fil-Am confirmed as US Federal Judge

MANILA, Philippines – Lorna Schofield is set to be the first Filipina-American to serve as US Federal Judge, the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) said on Thursday, December 20.

The 56-year-old lawyer, born to a Filipina mother and an American father, was nominated by President Barack Obama and confirmed as Federal District Court Judge for the Southern District of New York two days ago after a 91-0 vote in the Senate.

Schofield, recommended for the bench in April by New York Senator Charles Schumer, is a magna cum laude graduate in German and English from Indiana University and completed her law studies at the University of New York (NYU) Law School.

She was also a Pomeroy Scholar and Editor of the NYU Law Review, the DFA said in a statement.

After working as Assistant US Attorney for the Criminal Division of the Southern District of New York, she became the first Asian-American to chair the Litigation Committee of the American Bar Association and was named one of the 50 most influential minority lawyers by the National Law Journal in 2008.

One of the highlights of Schofield’s private practice career was when she was hired as legal counsel by American celebrity Rosie O’Donnell in a US$100 million lawsuit against the former publishers of the defunct Rosie Magazine.

She was also made partner in the prestigious New York law firm Debevoise & Plimpton, where she specialized in general commercial litigation, white collar criminal defense and internal investigations, bankruptcy litigation and class action suits.

Schofield’s mother, Priscilla Tiangco Schofield, is originally from Batangas and migrated to the United States upon her marriage to a US serviceman after World World II. – Rappler.com