Judges and Judiciary
Aug. 15, 2002
Vietnamese-American Ascends to Bench
LOS ANGELES - A Los Angeles federal prosecutor has been appointed the first Vietnamese-American woman to sit on the Los Angeles Superior Court bench. Assistant U.S. Attorney Jacqueline H. Nguyen was tapped Tuesday by Gov. Gray Davis. She fills the vacancy created when Judge James Albracht retired.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Jacqueline H. Nguyen was tapped Tuesday by Gov. Gray Davis. She fills the vacancy created when Judge James Albracht retired.
Nguyen's appointment is a first in California history for a Vietnamese-American woman to a trial or appellate seat.
In July 2000, Davis appointed Nho Trong Nguyen, the first Vietnamese-American judge in California, who sits in Orange County.
Nguyen's appointment reduces to 14 the number of open bench spots in Los Angeles County.
The 37-year-old Studio City resident is the deputy chief of the general crimes section of the U.S. attorney's office, which she joined in 1995.
From 1991 to 1994, she worked at the Los Angeles law firm of Musick, Peeler & Garrett.
Nguyen is a founding member and former president of the Asian Pacific American Bar Association and has also served on the Boards of Governors of the Japanese American Bar Association and the Women Lawyers Association of Los Angeles.
A Vietnamese native, Nguyen fled to the United States in 1975 after the fall of South Vietnam. As refugees, her family lived in an Army tent at Camp Pendleton before moving to Los Angeles County.
She earned her undergraduate degree from Occidental College and her law degree from UCLA.
Her annual salary will be $139,476.
Leslie Simmons
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