Views from the Bench: Discussion of Patent Trials by Judges of the Southern District of California
Panelists: Hon. Judge Marilyn L. Huff and Hon. Judge Cathy Ann Bencivengo, District Judges, and Michael S. Berg, U.S. Magistrate Judge
Moderator: Phillip C. Samouris, HIGGS FLETCHER & MACK
Date: Thursday, February 7, 6:00 pm
New Location: AMN Healthcare Auditorium, 12400 High Bluff Drive, San Diego, CA 92130
Buffet was served.
Our panelists:
HON. MARILYN L. HUFF, District Judge, Southern District of California
Marilyn L. Huff was appointed in 1991 as a federal district judge for the Southern District of California. She was Chief Judge of the Southern District of California from 1998 to 2005. She is a patent pilot judge, a member of the United States Judicial Conference Budget Committee and a member of the Ninth Circuit’s Education Committee.
She is the President- Elect of the Federal Judges Association and on the Judicial Advisory Board of the Association of Business Trial Lawyers in San Diego and the Executive Board of the Louis Welsh Chapter of the American Inns of Court. Previously, she was the Chairperson of the Ninth Circuit’s Public Information and Community Outreach Committee, a member of the U. S. Judicial Conference Committee on Rules of Practice and Procedure, the Ninth Circuit Judicial Council, a member of the Judicial Resources Committee for the United States Judicial Conference, chairperson of the Ninth Circuit Gender Fairness Committee, President of the Louis Welsh American Inns of Court, President of the Lawyers Club of San Diego, and Vice President of the San Diego County Bar Association.
Her recent publications include Developments in the Jurisprudence on the Use of Experts, 7 WASH. J.L. TECH. & ARTS 325 (2012) and Symposium on the Restyled Federal Rules of Evidence, 53 WM. & MARY L. REV. 1462 (2012).
She received her J.D. from the University of Michigan law school in 1976 and a B.A. from Calvin College in 1972. She was a lawyer in private practice in San Diego, California from 1976 to 1991, specializing in civil litigation and media law. She has received the San Diego County Bar Association’s awards for Legal Professional of the Year and Service to the Legal Profession.
HON. CATHY ANN BENCIVENGO, District Judge, Southern District of California
Judge Bencivengo was appointed to the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of California by President Barack Obama, and confirmed on February 10,2012. Prior to her confirmation, she served as a U.S. Magistrate Judge for the Southern District since December, 2005. Judge Bencivengo is a participant in the Southern District’s Patent Pilot Program and is a member of the District’s Patent Local Rules Committee.
Before joining the bench, Judge Bencivengo was a partner with the law firm of DLA Piper (formerly Gray Cary), where she specialized in intellectual property litigation and was National Co-Chair of the firm’s Patent Litigation Practice Group. Judge Bencivengo attended Rutgers University in New Jersey, earning a B.A. in journalism and political science and an M.A. in political science as a Fellow at the Eagleton Institute of Politics. She received her J.D. from the University of Michigan Law School, magna cum laude. She is a Master in the J. Clifford Wallace Chapter and the Louis M. Welsh Chapter of the American Inns of Court. She currently serves on the Ninth Circuit Education Committee and formerly served on the U.S. Magistrate Judges Education Committee for the Ninth Circuit, chairing the committee in 2009 and 2010. She was a Ninth Circuit Director of the Federal Magistrate Judges Association, served on the Advisory Board of the San Diego Chapter of the Federal Bar Association from 2009-2012, and is a member of the Board of Governors of the San Diego Chapter of the Association of Business Trial Lawyers.