Laura Swain
| Laura Swain | |
| Current Court Information: | |
| United States District Court for the Southern District of New York | |
| Title: | Judge |
| Position: | Seat #25 |
| Station: | New York, NY |
| Service: | |
| Appointed by: | Bill Clinton |
| Active: | 07/11/2000 - Present |
| Preceded by: | Thomas Griesa |
| Past post: | Eastern District of New York, U.S. Bankruptcy Judge |
| Past term: | 1996 - 2000 |
| Personal History | |
| Born: | 1958 |
| Home State: | Brooklyn, NY |
| Bachelors: | Harvard-Radcliffe, A.B., 1979 |
| Law School: | Harvard Law, J.D., 1982 |
Contents |
Laura Taylor Swain is a federal judge for the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York. She joined the court in 2000 after being nominated by President Bill Clinton.
Early life and education
Swain graduated from Harvard-Radcliffe with her Bachelor's degree in 1979 and later graduated from Harvard Law with her J.D. Degree in 1982. [1]
Professional career
Swain began her career as a law clerk for former federal district judge Constance Motley for the Southern District of New York from 1982 to 1983. She served as a private practice attorney from 1982 to 1996 and also served as a member of the New York State Board of Law Examiners from 1986 to 1996. [1]
Judicial career
Eastern District of New York
Swain began her career as a Federal Bankruptcy judge for the Eastern District of New York being appointed by the Second Circuit Judicial Conference in 1996 to a fourteen year term. Swain served in her role until her nomination to an Article III judgeship in 2000. [1]
Southern District of New York
On the recommendation of U.S. Senator Daniel Patrick Moynihan, Swain was nominated by President Bill Clinton on April 25, 2000 to a seat vacated by Thomas Griesa. [2] Swain was confirmed by the Senate on June 16, 2000 on a majority voice vote and received commission on July 11, 2000[2].
Notable cases
Seinfeld case
| United States District Court for the Southern District of New York *LAPINE v. Seinfeld No. 08 Civ. 128 (LTS)(RLE) |
|---|
| Judge Swain tossed out a copyright infringement lawsuit against Jessica Seinfeld on September 10, 2009 after the judge found that a recipe in a cookbook did not infringe on a competing author. [3]
Missy Chase Lapine sued the wife of comedian Jerry Seinfeld claiming a chicken breast recipe infringed on her similar recipe and competed unfairly. The judge found that because the styles of the books differed there was no evidence that Seinfeld's wife committed plagiarism. [3] The case was appealed to the Second Circuit Court of Appeals. The two appeals court judges, Reena Raggi and Peter Hall, ruled against Missy Chase Lapine and affirmed the decision by Judge Swain. The judgement can be read here.[4] In 2010, Missy Chase Lapine sued Jerry Seinfeld for slander as a result of an interview Mr. Seinfeld participated in on the David Letterman television show. The New York Supreme Court dismissed the claim as being without merit in 2011. The judgement can be read here.[5] |
External links
- List of Article III judges of the Southern District of New York
- The Robing Room- Rate Judge Swain
- Biography at FJC
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 Swain Biography from the Federal Judicial Center.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 "THOMAS" Nomination of Laura Swain, May 7, 2009 {Search for Laura Swain)
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 "New York Times" Judge Rejects Copyright Suit Against Jessica Seinfeld, September 10, 2009
- ↑ LAPINE v. Seinfeld, Court of Appeals, 2nd Circuit 2010
- ↑ Lapine v. Seinfeld, 31 Misc. 3d 736 - NY: Supreme Court 2011
| Federal judicial offices | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by: Thomas Griesa |
Southern District of New York 2000–Current |
Succeeded by: NA |
| |||
|---|---|---|---|
| 1993 |
Adams • Ambrose • Barnes • Brinkema • Bucklew • Chasanow • Coffman • Daughtrey • Ferguson • Ginsburg • Hagen • Jackson • Lancaster • Leval • Lindsay • Messitte • Michael • Piersol • Saris • Schwartz • Seybert • Shanahan • Shaw • Stearns • Trager • Vazquez • Wilken • Wilson | ||
| 1994 |
Baer • Barkett • Batts • Beaty • Benavides • Bennett • Berrigan • Biery • Block • Borman • Breyer • Briones • Bryson • Bucklo • Burgess • Burrage • Cabranes • Calabresi • Carr • Casellas • Castillo • Chatigny • Chin • Cindrich • Coar • Collins • Cooper • Cote • Currie • Davis • Dominguez • Downes • Duval • Friedman • Furgeson • Garcia • Gertner • Gettleman • Gillmor • Gilmore • Gleeson • Haggerty • Hamilton • Hannah • Hawkins • Henry • Holmes • Hood • Hull • Hurley • Jack • Jones • Jones • Kaplan • Katz • Kern • Kessler • Koeltl • Lisi • Manning • McKee • McLaughlin • Melancon • Miles-LaGrange • Moore • Motz • Murphy • O'Malley • O'Meara • Oliver • Paez • B. Parker • F. Parker • R. Parker • Perry • Ponsor • Pooler • Porteous • Rendell • Riley • Robertson • Rogers • Ross • Russell • Sands • Sarokin • Scheindlin • Silver • Squatrito • Stewart • Sullivan • Tatel • Thompson • Timlin • Urbina • Vanaskie • Vance • Walls • Wells • Williams | ||
| 1995 |
Arterton • Atlas • Black • Blake • Briscoe • Tena Campbell • Todd Campbell • Chesney • Cole • Collier • Daniel • Davis • Dennis • Dlott • Donald • Duffy • Economus • Evans • Fallon • Folsom • Gaughan • Goodwin • Heartfield • Hunt • Illston • Jones • King • Kornmann • Lawson • Lenard • Lucero • Lynch • McKinley • Moody • Moore • Moskowitz • Murphy • Murtha • Nugent • O'Toole • Orlofsky • Pogue • Sessions • C. Smith • O. Smith • Stein • Thornburg • Tunheim • Wallach • Wardlaw • Webber • Whaley • Winmill • Wood | ||
| 1996 |
Broadwater • Clevert • Fenner • Gershon • Gottschall • Greenaway • Hinkle • Jones • Kahn • Laughrey • Lemmon • Marten • Miller • Molloy • Montgomery • Pregerson • Rakoff • Sargus • Tashima • Thomas • Zapata | ||
| 1997 |
Adelman • Bataillon • Breyer • Caputo • Casey • Chambers • Clay • Damrell • Droney • Friedman • Gajarsa • Garland • Gilman • Gold • Gwin • Hall • Hayden • Hull • Ishii • Jenkins • Kauffman • Kennedy • Kimball • Kollar-Kotelly • Lazzara • Marbley • Marcus • Middlebrooks • Miller • Moon • Pratt • Rendell • Sippel • Siragusa • Snyder • Thrash | ||
| 1998 |
Aiken • Barbier • Barzilay • Berman • Buttram • Carter • Collins • Dawson • Dimitrouleas • Fletcher • Fogel • Frank • Graber • Hellerstein • Herndon • James • Johnson • Kane • Kelly • G. King • R. King • Lasnik • Lee • Lemelle • Lindsay • Lipez • Manella • Matz • McCuskey • McKeown • McMahon • Mickle • Mollway • Mordue • Moreno • Morrow • Munley • Murphy • Pallmeyer • Pauley • Polster • Pooler • Rawlinson • Ridgway • R. Roberts • V. Roberts • Sack • Scott • Seitz • Seymour • Shea • Silverman • Sleet • Sotomayor • Steeh • Story • Straub • Tagle • Tarnow • Trauger • Traxler • Tyson • Wardlaw • Whelan • Young | ||
| 1999 |
Alsup • Barry • Brown • Buchwald • Cooper • Eaton • Ellison • Feess • Fisher • Gould • Guzman • Haynes • Hibbler • Hochberg • Hurd • Huvelle • Jordan • Katzmann • Kennelly • Linn • Lorenz • Lynn • Marrero • Murguia • Pannell • Pechman • Pepper • Phillips • Schreier • Stewart • Underhill • Ward • Williams • Wilson | ||
| 2000 |
Ambro • Antoon • Battani • Berzon • Bolton • Brady • Bye • Cavanaugh • Daniels • Darrah • Dawson • Dyk • Fuentes • Garaufis • Garcia-Gregory • Gregory • Hamilton • Huck • Hunt • Lawson • Lefkow • Lynch • Martin • McLaughlin • Moody • Murguia • Paez • Pisano • Presnell • Rawlinson • Reagan • Schiller • Singal • Steele • Surrick • Swain • Tallman • Teilborg • Tucker • Whittemore | ||
