Federal Civil Procedure Before Trial -- Author Information

Judge William W Schwarzer is a Senior United States District Judge for the Northern District of California in San Francisco, California. He is the former Director (1990- 95) of the Federal Judicial Center in Washington, D.C. Judge Schwarzer graduated from Harvard Law School and later served there as a Teaching Fellow.

Before his appointment to the bench in 1976, Judge Schwarzer was a partner in McCutchen, Doyle, Brown & Enersen in San Francisco. He also served as Senior Counsel to the President’s Commission on CIA Activities within the U.S. (Rockefeller Commission).

Judge Schwarzer is a member of the American Law Institute; and a Judicial Fellow of the American College of Trial Lawyers. He has written and lectured extensively on federal civil procedure topics. He is the former Chair of the U.S. Judicial Conference Committee on Federal-State Jurisdiction. His articles on Rule 11, federal summary judgment standards and discovery reform have been cited repeatedly in appellate and Supreme Court opinions.

Judge A. Wallace Tashima is a Senior United States Circuit Judge for the U.S. Court of Appeals, Ninth Circuit, with chambers in Pasadena, California. He was appointed to that position in 1996 and, before then, was a United States District Judge for the Central District of California in Los Angeles (1980-95). He is a graduate of UCLA and the Harvard Law School. Before his appointment to the bench, he was a partner in the Los Angeles office of Morrison & Foerster, handling primarily antitrust and commercial litigation.

Judge Tashima is a member of the U.S. Judicial Conference Committee on Rules of Practice and Procedure. He is a former member and past Chair of the Executive Committee of the Ninth Circuit Judicial Conference. He is also a former Chair of the Central District Rules Committee and its Civil Justice Reform Act Committee. He has written and lectured extensively on federal practice subjects.

James M. Wagstaffe is a partner in Kerr & Wagstaffe, San Francisco. He has a predominantly federal practice. His clientele includes media and publishing companies, governmental entities and federal officials. Mr. Wagstaffe obtained his law degree at Hastings. He then clerked for Hon. Spencer Williams, United States District Judge, Northern District of California. He is past Chair of the Federal Courts Committee of the California State Bar.

Mr. Wagstaffe has lectured and written widely on federal civil procedure, including addresses to all incoming federal district court judges at the Federal Judicial Center and at various regional workshops.

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