b'Spring/Summer 2019Page 7 Judicial Profile: Magistrate Judge Autumn D. SpaethBy Matthew K. Wegner* United States Magistrate Judge Autumn D. Spaeth says she has not had a single boring day since June 15, 2018. Orange Countys newest federal judge was sworn in that day, following a full career as a business litigator in private practice. Since then, she has enjoyed the intellec-tual rigor of life on the bench, grappling with issues as diverse as habeas petitions and elec-tronic discovery in complex intellectual property cases.Though she is familiar to most Orange County lawyers, and over the years became an obvi-ous candidate for the Court, Judge Spaeths path to the bench was not preordained. She was the first in her family to attend law school, enrolling at USC after earning her undergraduate degree at UCLA. After law school,shetookajobasanassociatein McDermott, Will & Emerys Irvine[Judge Spaeth] has notofficethe beginning of a success-fulcareerasanOrangeCountyhad a single boring daybusinesslitigator.Shespenta large portion of her career, and lat- since June 15, 2018. er became a partner, at Costa Me-saboutiqueAlbert,Weiland&Golden, which changed its name to Weiland,Golden,Smiley,WangEkvall&Strok,LLPwhenTheo-dore Albert joined the bench of the U.S. Bankruptcy Court.She ultimately became a found-ing partner of Smiley Wang-Ekvall, LLP, where her practice concentrated on insolvency and bankruptcy-related litigation matters.It was Judge Spaeths service outside the law firm, however, that sparked her interest in be-coming a judge. While in private practice, she became affiliated with the Ninth Circuit Judi-cial Conference, in which she held several positions. One of those positions turned out to be (Continued on page 9)'