Michael W. Fitzgerald

{{Infobox officeholder

| honorific-prefix =

| name = Michael Walter Fitzgerald

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| image = Judge Michael W. Fitzgerald.jpg

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| office = Judge of the United States District Court for the Central District of California

| term_start = March 15, 2012

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| appointer = Barack Obama

| predecessor = Howard Matz

| successor =

| pronunciation =

| birth_name = Michael Walter Fitzgerald

| birth_date = {{Birth date and age|1959|07|11}}

| birth_place = Los Angeles, California, U.S.

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| education = Harvard College (AB)
{{nowrap|University of California, Berkeley (JD)}}

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Michael Walter Fitzgerald (born July 11, 1959) is a United States district judge of the United States District Court for the Central District of California.{{Cite news | first=Abby | last=Phillip | url=http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0711/59489.html | title=Obama to nominate fourth openly gay judicial candidate | work=Politico | date=July 20, 2011 | access-date=July 21, 2011}}

Early life and education

Fitzgerald was born in Los Angeles, California, on July 11, 1959.{{cite web|url=http://www.martindale.com/Michael-W-Fitzgerald/129401-lawyer.htm|title=Lawyer Profile: Michael W. Fitzgerald|work=Martindale|access-date=July 21, 2011}} He earned an Artium Baccalaureus from Harvard College in 1981 and a Juris Doctor from the University of California, Berkeley School of Law in 1985.{{cite web|author=Corbin, Fitzgerald & Athey LLP|url=http://www.corbfitzlaw.com/fitzgerald.shtml|title=Attorneys: Michael W. Fitzgerald|work=corbfitzlaw.com|access-date=July 21, 2011}} From 1985 to 1986, Fitzgerald served as a law clerk for Judge Irving Kaufman of the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit.{{cite web|author=The White House: Office of the Press Secretary|url=https://obamawhitehouse.archives.gov/the-press-office/2011/07/20/president-obama-announces-his-intent-nominate-michael-walter-fitzgerald-|title=President Obama Announces His Intent to Nominate Michael Walter Fitzgerald to the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California|date=July 20, 2011|via=National Archives|work=whitehouse.gov|access-date=July 21, 2011}}{{FJC Bio|nid=1393921|inline=yes}}

Career

From 1988 to 1991, Fitzgerald was an assistant United States attorney for the Central District of California. Fitzgerald worked at Heller, Ehrman, White & McAuliffe from 1991 to 1995 and at the law offices of Robert L. Corbin from 1995 to 1998.{{cite web |url=http://www.ce9.uscourts.gov/absolutenm/articlefiles/442-Fitzgerald_Confirmed.pdf |title=Senate Confirms Michael W. Fitzgerald as District Judge for Central District of California |work=Ninth Circuit |date=March 15, 2012 |access-date=March 16, 2012}} From 1998, until his appointment to the Federal bench, Fitzgerald was part of a small Los Angeles law firm, Corbin, Fitzgerald & Athey, which handles white collar criminal defense and business litigation.

= Federal judicial service =

On July 20, 2011, President Barack Obama nominated Fitzgerald to serve as a United States district judge of the United States District Court for the Central District of California, he was nominated to the seat vacated by Judge Howard Matz. Fitzgerald is the fourth openly gay candidate nominated by Obama to a federal judgeship, after Edward DuMont, J. Paul Oetken, and Alison J. Nathan.

He received a hearing before the Senate Judiciary Committee on October 4, 2011, and the committee reported his nomination to the floor of the Senate on November 3, 2011, his nomination being placed on the Senate Executive Calendar that same day.{{cite web|url=http://judiciary.senate.gov|title=Home – United States Senate Committee on the Judiciary|website=judiciary.senate.gov}} On March 15, 2012, the Senate confirmed Fitzgerald by a 91–6 vote.{{cite web|url=https://www.senate.gov/legislative/LIS/roll_call_lists/roll_call_vote_cfm.cfm?congress=112&session=2&vote=00050|title=On the Nomination (Confirmation Michael Walter Fitzgerald, of California, to be U.S. District Judge)|website=www.senate.gov}} He received his commission the same day.

Fitzgerald will preside over the murder-for-hire trial for rapper Lil Durk and his co-defendants.https://www.vice.com/en/article/lil-durk-murder-for-hire-rapper-pleads-not-guilty/

= Notable ruling =

In February 2018, Fitzgerald's ruling in Sean Hall and Nathan Butler's copyright lawsuit against Taylor Swift received international attention.{{Cite web|url=https://www.scribd.com/document/371458324/Hall-v-Swift-Dismissal%20and%20https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-43056814|title=Hall v Swift Dismissal {{!}} Substantial Similarity {{!}} Federal Rules Of Civil Procedure|website=Scribd|language=en|access-date=2018-02-14}}{{Cite news|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-43056814|title=Swift lyric too 'banal' to copyright|last=Savage|first=Mark|date=2018-02-14|work=BBC News|access-date=2018-02-14|language=en-GB}}

Personal

Fitzgerald is openly gay and was the first openly LGBT person to be appointed to the federal bench in California.{{cite news|author=Bob Egelko |url=http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2012/03/15/BAUM1NLG05.DTL&type=politics |title=Michael Fitzgerald 1st openly gay U.S. judge in CA |publisher=San Francisco Chronicle |date=2012-03-16 |access-date=2012-03-16}}