Judge Dana M. Sabraw Biography
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Judge Dana M. Sabraw Biography
Judge Dana M. Sabraw was nominated to the United States District Court, Southern District of California, on May 1,2003, by President George W. Bush. He was unanimously confirmed by the United States Senate on September 25,2003, and entered on duty on September 29, 2003.
As a District Judge, Judge Sabraw presides over approximately 600 criminal and civil cases, from initial filing through disposition, including trial and post-trial motions. His criminal calendar comprises cases involving narcotics trafficking, alien smuggling and related immigration matters, firearms, mail, wire, security, tax and bankruptcy fraud, money laundering, bank robbery, and other crimes of violence. His civil calendar includes federal claims, such as patent, trademark, and copyright matters, antitrust, civil rights and other constitutional claims, labor, social security, and forfeiture matters, as well as a variety of state law claims.
Judge Sabraw currently serves as Chair of the Court's Patent Advisory Committee, which is responsible for promulgating local rules of practice for patent cases before the Court. He is also overseeing the Court's Case Management/Electronic Case Filing (CMlECF) Project, in which the Court is exploring electronic case filing and management.
Before Judge Sabraw's appointment to the federal bench, he served on the state bench for eight years. From November 1998 to September 2003, he served as a Judge ofthe Superior Court for the State of alifornia, County of San Diego, and from September 1995 to November 1998, he served on the North County Municipal Court in San Diego. He was appointed to both the Municipal and Superior Courts by Governor Pete Wilson.
As a Superior Court Judge, Judge Sabraw presided over civil and criminal matters. He served as a direct civil calendar judge for two years, where he managed more than 700 cases from initial filing through trial and post-trial motions. His civil caseload included matters involving medical and legal malpractice, insurance coverage and bad faith, torts, employment law, product liability, intellectual property, real property, eminent domain, contract, and consumer disputes. Before his civil assignment, he served as criminal supervising judge for the North County Division of the Superior Court. He Iso served in a criminal trial department, where he presided over a criminal law & motion calendar and serious felony trials, including numerous homicide, rape, kidnap and child molestati n triaJs.
As a Municipal Court Judge, Judge Sabraw served a both Presiding Judge and Assistant Presiding Judge of the North County Municipal Court. While on the Superior Court, he served on numerous committees, including among others the Court's General Oversight Committee, Civil Oversight Committee, and Ad Hoc Criminal Practices/Policy and Procedure Committee. Judge Sabraw also was appointed by the California Supreme Court to serve as a Special Master in a disciplinary proceedin against a state court judge.
Judge Sabraw obtained his undergraduate degree from San Diego State University, with Distinction, in Criminal Justice Administration in 1980. He received his Juris Doctorate, with Distinction, from the University of the Pacific, McGeorge School of Law, in 1985. He was a member of the Law Review and Traynor Honor Society, graduating in the top 10% of his class.
Before his appointment to the bench, Judge Sabraw practiced with the international law firm Baker & McKenzie in San Diego. He became a partner in 1992. He specialized in insurance coverage and "bad faith" litigation, and also maintained a broad-based litigation practice encompassing all aspects ofbusiness, commercial and real estate litigation. He also practiced as a litigation associate with the Santa Barbara law firm Price, Postel & Parma, from 1985 through 1988, before moving to Baker & McKenzie in 1989.
Judge Sabraw is a founding member and master of the bench of two American Inns of Court, the Clifford J. Wallace Inn and the Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr. Inn. He served as President of the HolmesInn of ourtfrom2000-01,and asPresidentoftheWallaceInn ofCourtfrom2006-08. He is a past m rober ofthe Board of overnors ofthe Association ofBusiness Trial Lawyers, San Diego Chapter. He is a current member, and past board member, of the Pan Asian Lawyers of San Diego. He was affiliated with the Einstein Institute for Science, Health and the Courts, a national provider ofjudicialeducation,and is amember ofitsrelatedAdvancedScienceandTechnologyAdjudication Standards, Credentials and Accreditation board (ASTAboard), where he served as chair of the Accreditation Review Panel for the State ofMaryland's Resource Judge Programs. He also founded the Positive Impact Program in 1988, a court outreach program focused on lower socioeconomic students; this program provides a course curriculum, lecture by court personnel, mock trial and court tour to 5th grade students, all of which is designed to give children a positive first impression ofthe justice system.
Judge Sabraw is married and has three children. His spouse practices law as a Deputy District Attorney for the County of San Diego, where she serves as a Chief Deputy District Attorney. Judge Sabraw has also been an active participant in youth sports, formerly serving as a Little League coach and general manager of a competitive youth baseball team.
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Perspectives From The Bench: Finding Gold In High Tech Advocacy
- Hon. Cathy Ann Bencivengo, US District Judge, US District Court for the Southern District of California
- Hon. Marilyn Huff, US District Judge, US District Court for the Southern District of California
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Hon. Dana Makoto Sabraw, US District Judge, US District Court for the Southern District of California
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Moderator—Thane Bauz, Partner, Perkins Coie, San Diego
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