Laura Swain | |
|---|---|
| Chief Judge of theUnited States District Court for the Southern District of New York | |
| Assumed office April 10, 2021 | |
| Preceded by | Colleen McMahon |
| Judge of theUnited States District Court for the Southern District of New York | |
| Assumed office July 11, 2000 | |
| Appointed by | Bill Clinton |
| Preceded by | Thomas P. Griesa |
| Personal details | |
| Born | Laura Anne Taylor (1958-11-21)November 21, 1958 (age 67) New York City,New York, U.S. |
| Education | Harvard University (BA,JD) |
Laura Anne Taylor Swain[1] (born November 21, 1958)[2] is an American lawyer and jurist serving as the chief judge of theUnited States District Court for the Southern District of New York. She was appointed to the Southern District of New York in 2000 by PresidentBill Clinton and has served as its chief judge since 2021.
Swain was born on November 21, 1958, inBrooklyn. She graduated fromRadcliffe College ofHarvard University in 1979 with aBachelor of Arts and fromHarvard Law School in 1982 with aJuris Doctor.[3] From 1982 until 1983, Swain worked as alaw clerk for JudgeConstance Baker Motley of theUnited States District Court for the Southern District of New York.[3] From 1983 until 1996, Swain worked in private legal practice inNew York City, practicing as an associate, and then counsel, in the areas ofERISA,employee benefits,executive compensation andemployment law for the firmDebevoise & Plimpton.[3][4]
Swain also served as a member of the New York State Board of Law Examiners from 1986 to 1996. She chaired the advisory committee for the Federal Rules of Bankruptcy Procedure from 2007 to 2010.[citation needed]
Swain was aUnited States bankruptcy judge for the Eastern District of New York from November 1, 1996, to July 11, 2000.[5] On April 25, 2000, President Clinton nominated Swain to be a United States District Judge of theUnited States District Court for the Southern District of New York to the seat vacated by JudgeThomas P. Griesa. She was confirmed by theUnited States Senate on June 16, 2000, and received her commission on July 11, 2000.[3] She became chief judge on April 10, 2021, afterColleen McMahon assumedsenior status.[6]
On May 5, 2017, Chief JusticeJohn Roberts appointed Judge Swain to oversee thedebt restructuring case in thePuerto Rican government-debt crisis.[7]
Swain's tenure on the District Court bench has included some of the Southern District of New York's high-profile book authorship disputes. In particular, she presided overLapine v. Seinfeld andHoover v. Boncompangi. Both cases were widely covered by the press, and were rich fodder for New York's tabloid newspapers.[8]<[9]
This action was filed by author Missy Chase Lapine against comedianJerry Seinfeld and his wife,Jessica Seinfeld, asserting that the couple used ideas for Jessica Seinfeld's cookbookDeceptively Delicious: Simple Secrets to Get Your Kids Eating Good Food from Lapine's bookThe Sneaky Chef: Simple Strategies for Hiding Healthy Foods in Kids' Favorite Meals.[10][11]
The Seinfelds denied Lapine's claim. Lapine claimed she experienced substantial financial loss.[12]
As a result of comments made by Mr. Seinfeld about the authorship dispute on theLate Show with David Letterman, Lapine included a cause of action for defamation to her suit.[11]
This action was filed by Tatiana Boncompagni Hoover against her older sister Natasha Boncompagni. Hoover, a New York socialite, professional author, and wife of an heir to the Hoover cleaning founder, accused her sister of making unauthorized electronic copies of her bookHedge Fund Wives.[13][14]
The court granted an emergency temporary restraining order preventing the older sister from further distribution of the pre-publication manuscript.[15][16]
The case reached closure in early 2009 when Swain entered a consent order stating, "The Defendant has announced to the Court that she is not a co-author ofHedge Fund Wives and has no authorship or co-authorship rights to the work. The Defendant agrees to release any registered or pending copyrights that she has relating toHedge Fund Wives, and any domain names or other property relating toHedge Fund Wives or the Plaintiff’s first novel,Gilding Lily."[17][18]
On February 19, 2021, Swain dismissed a defamation lawsuit filed byDevin Nunes againstCNN. Nunes sought $435 million in damages and claimed that on November 22, 2019, CNN published a false news article and engaged in a conspiracy theory to damage his reputation. Swain noted that under California law, a retraction must be demanded in writing within 20 days of publication, which Nunes failed to request.[19]
| Legal offices | ||
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| Preceded by | Judge of theUnited States District Court for the Southern District of New York 2000–present | Incumbent |
| Preceded by | Chief Judge of theUnited States District Court for the Southern District of New York 2021–present | |
| International | |
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| National | |
