RIVERSIDE, Calif. (CN) - The Central District of California got a fresh addition Friday, swearing in U.S. Magistrate Judge Sheri Pym.
Pym's appointment fills a seat on the bench in Riverside that was vacated with the November 2010 retirement of U.S. Magistrate Judge Rosalyn Chapman, the court announced in a statement.
Before working on criminal prosecution as head of the U.S. Attorney's Office Riverside branch, Pym was an associate at Milberg Weiss in San Diego. There, she represented plaintiffs in class actions involving consumer fraud, wage and hour violations, securities fraud, and tobacco litigation and also worked in the firm's appellate department.
Pym received her bachelor's degree from Williams College in 1989 and her juris doctorate from the University of California - Los Angeles School of Law in 1994.
Magistrate judges, of which there are 24 full-time and one part-time in the Central District of California, serve eight-year terms in which they conduct preliminary proceedings in criminal cases, as well as the discovery and various other pretrial hearings in civil cases. They also oversee the trial and disposition of misdemeanor cases and of certain civil cases.
The Central District of California covers the 19.4 million people living in Los Angeles, Orange, Riverside, San Bernardino, Ventura, Santa Barbara and San Luis Obispo Counties. More than 15,000 cases were filed in the district last year.
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