Alexander F. MacKinnon Appointed as United States Magistrate Judge for the Central District of California

      Press Release Date: July 20, 2015

            ALEXANDER F. MACKINNON APPOINTED AS UNITED STATES MAGISTRATE JUDGE FOR THE CENTRAL DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA

The United States District Court for the Central District of California announces the appointment of Alexander F. MacKinnon as United States Magistrate Judge.  Judge MacKinnon, who was sworn in on July 20, 2015, will sit in Los Angeles in the Court’s Western Division.  He succeeds retired Magistrate Judge Victor B. Kenton.

Before his selection as a Magistrate Judge, Judge MacKinnon was a partner at Kirkland & Ellis LLP for over twenty years, where he concentrated on patent infringement cases as well as other areas of federal trial and appellate practice.  During his career, he was selected as one of California’s Top Intellectual Property Litigators. Judge MacKinnon previously served as a law clerk to late Judge Albert J. Engel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit.

In 1981, Judge MacKinnon graduated Magna Cum Laude from the University of Michigan Law School and was elected to the Order of the Coif. Prior to attending law school, Judge MacKinnon was a civil engineer, having graduated Summa Cum Laude with a Bachelor’s Degree in Engineering from the University of Michigan.

Including the position now occupied by Judge MacKinnon, the Central District of California has 24 full-time and one part-time Magistrate Judge positions.

The Central District of California is comprised of the counties of Los Angeles, Orange, Riverside, San Bernardino, Ventura, Santa Barbara and San Luis Obispo. It serves approximately 19.6 million people – nearly half the population of the state of California.

KIRY K. GRAY

ACTING CLERK OF COURT