Thursday, July 10, 2025 — MCLE Luncheon — The Honorable Dana M. Sabraw

We are very pleased to have as our July speaker, the Honorable Dana M. Sabraw, Judge of the United States District Court for the Southern District of California, who will provide our members with an “Update on the California Southern District Court.”

This presentation will provide 1.0 hour MCLE general credit.

Some Information About Our Speaker:

HON. DANA M. SABRAW, Judge
United States District Court for the Southern District of California

Federal Judicial Service:

Judge, U.S. District Court for the Southern District of California Nominated by POTUS George W. Bush on May 1, 2003, to a new seat authorized by 116 Stat. 1758. Confirmed by the Senate on September 25, 2003, and received commission on September 26, 2003.

Judge Sabraw served as Chief Judge of the Court from January 22, 2021 to January 22, 2025.

Education:

American River Junior College, A.A., 1978
San Diego State University, B.S., 1980
University of the Pacific, McGeorge School of Law, J.D., 1985

Earlier Professional Career:

Private practice, Santa Barbara, California, 1985-1989

Private practice, San Diego, California, 1989-1995

Judge, San Diego [California] North County Municipal Court, 1995-1998

Judge, Superior Court of California, County of San Diego, 1998-2003

Additional Information about Judge Sabraw:

Judge Dana Makoto Sabraw was appointed to the United States District Court in 2003. He served as Chief Judge from January 22, 2021 to January 22, 2025. He received his undergraduate degree with distinction from San Diego State University, and thereafter attended McGeorge School of Law at the University of the Pacific, where he graduated in 1985 in the top 10% of his class and served on the Law Review. Before his appointment, Judge Sabraw practiced law as a commercial litigator with Baker & McKenzie in San Diego, becoming a partner in 1992. In 1995, he was appointed to San Diego’s North County Municipal Court. He served as Presiding Judge of the Municipal Court until his elevation to the Superior Court in 1998, where he served as Criminal Supervising Judge and as a criminal and civil trial judge until his appointment to the federal bench. As a trial lawyer and judge, Judge Sabraw has tried more than 300 cases to verdict.

Judge Sabraw was appointed by the Chief Justice of the United States Supreme Court to serve as a member of the U.S. Judicial Conference Committee on the Judicial Branch, and he was appointed by the Director of the Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts to serve as a member of the Judicial Security and Independence Task Force. He has been active in a number of professional organizations. Among these, he is a founding member and past president of two American Inns of Court (Lopardo and Wallace Inn Chapters), and current member, and past board member, of the Pan Asian Lawyers of San Diego. He also serves on the founding committee of “Just the Beginning—A Pipeline Organization.” He is a frequent speaker at law and community related events on judicial independence and the rule of law.

He has received numerous awards from the community and bar associations, including Person of the Year by the San Diego Union Tribune editorial board (2018), Outstanding Jurist by the San Diego County Bar Association (2019), Judge of the Year by La Raza Lawyers Association of San Diego (2019), Humanitarian of the Year by Casa Cornelia Law Center(2019), Judge of the Year by Consumer Trial Attorneys of San Diego (2019), and the Bernard E. Witkin Award for Excellence in the Adjudication of the Law (2023). He also received the Trailblazer Award from the National Asian Pacific American Bar Association (2005), Lifetime Achievement Award by the Asian Business Association of San Diego (2019), Sunshine Award by the Society of Professional Journalists, San Diego (2020), Exemplary Leadership Award During COVID-19 Pandemic and Judicial Service Award by the Federal Bar Association, San Diego Chapter (2022, 2025), Civil Rights Civil Leadership Award by the Japanese American Citizens League (JACL), San Diego Chapter (2023), Japanese American of the Biennium by JACL, National (2024), and University of the Pacific, McGeorge School of Law (Top 100) Alumni (2024), among others.