O’Connell Named to Los Angeles Federal Court

(CN) - President Barack Obama nominated Beverly Reid O'Connell to serve as a judge with the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California.

Once confirmed, O'Connell replaces U.S. District Judge Valerie Baker Fairbank who took senior status March 1, 2012.

O'Connell earned her bachelor's degree from the University of California at Los Angeles in 1986 and graduated from Pepperdine University, School of Law, in 1990. A magna cum laude graduate, O'Connell also served as managing editor of the Pepperdine Law Review.

She went on to work as an associate with Morrison & Foerster from 1990 to 1995, and then as an assistant U.S. attorney for the Central District of California until 2005.

Most recently, O'Connell has worked as an assistant supervising judge for the North Valley District of the Los Angeles Superior Court. Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger appointed her to that role in 2005. O'Connell also sat by designation on the California Court of Appeals for the Second District, Division Eight.

The U.S. District Court for the Central District of California is one of the busiest federal trial courts in the country with 16,438 new case filings in 2011. The court is authorized 28 judgeships and currently has three vacancies.

O'Connell will earn a salary of $174,000 per year.

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