Autumn D. Spaeth 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 Autumn D. Spaeth as a United States Magistrate Judge.  Judge Spaeth, who was sworn in on June 15, 2018, will sit in Santa Ana, the Court’s Southern Division.  Judge Spaeth succeeds former Magistrate Judge Vijay C. Gandhi.

Before her appointment as a Magistrate Judge, Judge Spaeth was a founding partner of Smiley Wang-Ekvall, LLP in Costa Mesa, California.  Her practice concentrated on business litigation and insolvency matters, with a specialization in bankruptcy related litigation.  Prior to the founding of Smiley Wang-Ekvall, LLP, Judge Spaeth was a partner at Weiland, Golden, Smiley, Wang Ekvall & Strok, LLP.  Judge Spaeth started her career as an associate in McDermott, Will & Emery, where her practice consisted largely of complex business and intellectual property litigation.

While in private practice, Judge Spaeth served on the Ninth Circuit Conference Executive Committee and was selected to serve as Program Chair for the Ninth Circuit Judicial Conference.  She served on the Ninth Circuit Lawyer Representatives Coordinating Committee, including as its Chair, and served as Co-Chair of the Central District of California Lawyer Representatives to the Ninth Circuit Judicial Conference.  Prior to her appointment, Judge Spaeth served on the Board of Directors for the Orange County Bar Association and the Federal Bar Association, Orange County Chapter.  She was an active member of a number of other bar organizations.

Judge Spaeth received her Bachelor of Arts in Political Science from University of California Los Angeles.  Judge Spaeth graduated from the University of Southern California with a Juris Doctor from the Law School and a Master of Arts in Communication Management from the Annenberg School of Communication.  During law school, she served as Notes Editor of the Southern California Law Review.

Including the position now occupied by Judge Spaeth, the Central District of California has 24 authorized full-time Magistrate Judges and one part-time position.  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
DISTRICT COURT EXECUTIVE / CLERK OF COURT