Judge Lee H. Rosenthal
Judge, United States District Court for the Southern District of Texas
Interviewed by Kellen R. Funk
Watch the full video or read the transcript (PDF 302.27 KB).
About the Interview
Judge Lee H. Rosenthal was interviewed on September 20, 2023 by her former clerk, Kellen R. Funk, Professor of Law, Columbia Law School.
Biography
Judge Lee H. Rosenthal was appointed a United States District Court Judge for the Southern District of Texas, Houston Division in 1992. Before then, she was a partner at Baker & Botts in Houston, Texas, where she tried civil cases and handled appeals in the state and federal courts. She received her undergraduate and law degrees from the University of Chicago and served as law clerk to Chief Judge John R. Brown, United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit.
In addition to serving as a district court judge for over 22 years, Judge Rosenthal has been invited to sit by designation with courts of appeals around the country, including the Second, Third, Fifth, Sixth, Ninth, and Eleventh Circuits. Chief Justice Rehnquist appointed Judge Rosenthal as a member of the Judicial Conference Advisory Committee on Civil Rules in 1996. She served as chair of the Class Actions subcommittee during the development of the 2003 amendments to Rule 23. Chief Justice Rehnquist appointed Judge Rosenthal chair of the Civil Rules Committee in 2003. In 2007, Chief Justice Roberts appointed Judge Rosenthal to chair the Judicial Conference Committee on the Rules of Practice and Procedure, which coordinates and oversees the work of the Advisory Committees for the Civil, Criminal, Evidence, Appellate, and Bankruptcy Rules. That appointment was extended through October 1, 2011.
Judge Rosenthal has been chief judge of the Southern District since November 2016. The Fifth Circuit judges selected her as their District Judge representative on the Judicial Conference of the United States for a 3-year term beginning October 2016.
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