WASHINGTON — The National Asian Pacific American Bar Association is pleased that Kiyo Matsumoto was nominated by President Bush to serve as federal district court judge for the Eastern District of New York on March 11.

If confirmed, Magistrate Judge Matsumoto would become the second-ever Asian Pacific American woman to serve as a federal district court judge and the third Asian Pacific American federal district court judge outside of California and Hawaii.

She would become the eighth Asian Pacific American federal Senate-confirmed judge currently active out of approximately 850 nationwide.

Following the December 2007 confirmation of Amul Thapar as federal district court judge for the Eastern District of Kentucky, Matsumoto’s confirmation would mean that the proportion of active Asian Pacific Americans federal district court judges would finally reach one percent.

“This is another potential milestone for the Asian Pacific American community,” said Helen B. Kim, president of NAPABA. “The addition of two Asian Pacific American judges in less than a year would be encouraging news, after 13 years of having only one Asian Pacific American Article III judge outside of California and Hawaii.”

However, Kim noted, “Unfortunately, there currently are no active Asian Pacific American federal appellate court judges, including of course on the Supreme Court.”

Matsumoto presently serves as federal magistrate judge for the Eastern District of New York, where she has managed a docket of over 300 cases for three years.

Prior to her appointment in 2004, Matsumoto served the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of New York for over 20 years, as chief, first deputy chief and deputy chief of the Civil Division. She also served as chief of the Financial Litigation Unit, civil health care fraud coordinator and senior trial counsel.

During her tenure at the U.S. Attorney’s Office, she served as an instructor in civil litigation, financial litigation and trial advocacy at the Attorney General’s Advocacy Institute, the National Advocacy Center, and Office of Legal Education of the U.S. Department of Justice.

Judicial appointments have become an increasing priority for NAPABA, which has been working towards Matsumoto’s nomination for the last year.

“NAPABA applauds President Bush for his leadership in nominating Magistrate Judge Matsumoto,” said Les Jin, executive director of NAPABA. “If she is confirmed, President Bush will have appointed a total of four Asian Pacific American federal district court judges, equaling the number appointed by President Clinton, the highest number by any president.”

John C. Yang, co-chair of NAPABA’s Judiciary Committee, added, “NAPABA is also grateful for the efforts of Sen. Charles Schumer of New York, who recommended Magistrate Judge Matsumoto to the president. NAPABA hopes that the bipartisan cooperation that led to Ms. Matsumoto’s nomination bodes well for her speedy confirmation.”

Matsumoto is a member of NAPABA as well as the Asian American Bar Association of New York.

She is a graduate of UC Berkeley and the Georgetown University Law Center, where she was a legal research and writing fellow. Following her graduation from law school, Matsumoto was a litigation associate at MacDonald, Hoague and Bayless in Seattle.

She was an adjunct professor at Brooklyn Law School, where she taught legal research and writing, and at New York University School of Law, where she taught a government civil litigation clinic and seminar.

She also served as a trustee and vice chair of the board of the Federal Bar Council, a member of the Second Circuit Courts Committee of the Federal Bar Council, a member of the Judiciary Committee and the Federal Courts Committee of the Association of the Bar of the City of New York, vice chair of the Mayor’s Committee on City Marshals, a member of the Joint Committee on Local Federal Rules for the Eastern and Southern Districts of New York, and a member of the Eastern District of New York’s Committee on Civil Litigation.

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