Judge Andrew G. Schopler: Professional Background and Legal Expertise

CA Bar #: 236585 (June 2005)

Appointed By: Pres. Joseph R. Biden, Jr.

The Hon. Andrew G. Schopler is a judge on the United States District Court for theSouthern District of California. He was nominated to the bench by President Joe Biden on July 14, 2022, and confirmed by the United States Senate on March 7, 2023.

Prior to his appointment, Schopler was a magistrate with the San Diego Division of the United States District Court for the Southern District of California, a position to which he was named in 2016. Before that, he was an assistant United States attorney with the United States Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of California (2004 to 2016). In that capacity, he held assignments as Deputy Chief of the Major Frauds and Special Prosecutions Section.

Schopler earned a bachelor’s degree from Dartmouth College in 1994. He then completed a J.D. atHarvard Law School in 1997. As a law student, he interned with the United States Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of New York (1995), and he worked as a summer associate at Paul, Hastings, Janofsky & Walker (1996) and Kennedy Covington Lobdell & Hickman (1996). He also sat as the articles editor for the Harvard Journal on Legislation (1997).

He is licensed to practice in North Carolina (1997), the District of Columbia (2004), and California (2005).

After graduating from law school, Schopler opened his own private practice as a sole practitioner in Chapel Hill, North Carolina. He worked in that capacity until 1998, at which time he was hired as an assistant public defender with the Public Defender’s Office for District 15B in Hillsborough. However, his time there was brief. Later that year, Schopler returned to private practice, this time as an associate at Rudolf Maher Widenhouse & Fialko. While in private practice, he specialized in criminal defense and complex civil litigation. He was also named to the North Carolina Capital Roster for capital murder cases.

His memberships have included theAmerican Bar Association, the Federal Magistrate Judges Association, the Hon. William B. Enright American Inn of Court, the Lawyers Club of San Diego, the Association of Business Trial Lawyers (San Diego), the National Association of Assistant United States Attorneys, and the Orange County Chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union of North Carolina. He has also been involved with the Lawyer Representative Committee of the Southern District of California, the Orange County Democratic Party of North Carolina, and the San Diego Track Club.

Born in Chapel Hill, North Carolina, Schopler is a veteran of the United States Army and the California Army National Guard. Over the course of his military career, he served as a judge advocate for a Green Beret unit called Special Operations Detachment-North, which was tasked with special operations issues throughout Afghanistan. He was also involved with Operation North Star, which helped evacuate U.S. citizens and endangered Afghan allies from the country.