Senate Confirms Superior Court Judge Maame Ewusi-Mensah Frimpong as United States District Judge for the Central District of California

On December 17, 2021 the United States Senate confirmed President Joe Biden’s nomination of Los Angeles County Superior Court Judge Maame Ewusi-Mensah Frimpong to serve as a federal district judge for the United States District Court for the Central District of California.  Judge Frimpong will preside over matters in Los Angeles in the Court’s Western Division.

Judge Frimpong has served as a Superior Court Judge for Los Angeles County since February 2016 following her appointment by Governor Jerry Brown.  Judge Frimpong has presided over traffic, criminal, and civil matters, including over 30 jury trials.  She has also served on several Court Committees—Bail, Community Outreach, Domestic Violence Issues, Expert Witness, Grand Jurors, Legislation, Rules, Traffic, and Trial Jurors—and on the Judicial Council of California’s Criminal Law Advisory, Traffic Advisory, and Judicial Branch Access, Ethics and Fairness Curriculum Committees.

Prior to her appointment as a Superior Court Judge, from 2015 to 2016, Judge Frimpong served as Vice President, General Counsel, and Corporate Secretary of the Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC).  MCC is a U.S. foreign assistance agency that aims to promote economic growth, reduce poverty, and strengthen institutions in countries around the world.  At MCC, she supervised the legal department and provided legal advice to the CEO and management team.

From 2007 to 2015, Judge Frimpong served in multiple positions at the U.S. Department of Justice, and her practice covered the full spectrum of federal law, from intellectual property to immigration to civil rights to consumer protection to government contracts to international law. She served as a trial attorney in the Commercial Litigation Branch of the Civil Division from 2007 to 2009.  Then, from 2009 to 2011, she served as Counsel to the Assistant Attorney General of the Civil Division.  From 2011 to 2014, she served as the Deputy Assistant Attorney General for the Consumer Protection Branch, which included both civil and criminal litigation.   In 2012, Judge Frimpong also served as Acting Deputy Assistant Attorney General for the Torts Branch of the Civil Division.  She served as the Principal Deputy Associate Attorney General in 2014.  And, from 2014 to 2015, she served as Counselor to the Attorney General.  In that role, her responsibilities included oversight of the Environment and Natural Resources Division, the Tax Division, the Office of Tribal Justice, the Executive Office of Immigration Review, the Bureau of Prisons, and the U.S. Marshals Service, as well as oversight of the Department’s civil financial fraud litigation related to the financial crisis, its efforts to address human trafficking, and the Intellectual Property Task Force.

Before joining the Department of Justice, Judge Frimpong worked as an intellectual property litigation associate at Morrison & Foerster LLP from 2002 to 2007.  Throughout her career, Judge Frimpong has engaged in pro bono and public service in a variety of contexts.  As an associate at Morrison & Foerster, she dedicated substantial time to pro bono matters, including unlawful detainer, criminal expungement, and Section 1983 matters.  Additionally, as a Superior Court Judge, she participated in Los Angeles Superior Court’s Teen Court, which is voluntary diversion program for minors accused of minor offenses.  Judge Frimpong has also been involved in several bar and judges associations.

Judge Frimpong received her Bachelor of Arts degree, magna cum laude, from Harvard College in 1997, and her Juris Doctor degree from Yale Law School in 2001.  After graduating from law school, Judge Frimpong served as a law clerk to the Honorable Stephen Reinhardt on the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit.

Judge Frimpong fills the vacancy that arose when District Judge Christina A. Snyder assumed senior status in November 2016.  Including the appointment of Judge Frimpong, the Central District of California has 28 authorized Article III judgeships, five of which are currently unfilled.  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 more than 19.2 million people, nearly half the population of the State of California.

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KIRY K. GRAY
DISTRICT COURT EXECUTIVE / CLERK OF COURT