March 2,1992 –March 2,2009
Ronald McLeod Whyte (October 25,1942 –April 10,2023) was United States district judge of the United States District Court for the Northern District of California in San Jose,California.
Born in Pomona,California,Whyte earned an Artium Baccalaureus degree in mathematics from Wesleyan University in Middletown,Connecticut,in 1964,and a Juris Doctor from the USC Gould School of Law in Los Angeles,California,in 1967. From 1965 to 1967 he was a legal intern for the law firm of Nichols,Stead,Boileau and Lamb and later for the Kenneth Hahn Hall of Administration in Los Angeles. He also was a server and manager for two different small companies. Whyte was in private practice from 1967 to 1968 in Claremont,California. He then served as a lieutenant in the United States Navy from 1968 to 1971 as part of the Judge Advocate General Corps. While in the Navy he served as a judge of military courts from 1969 to 1971. He returned to private practice from 1971 to 1989,working at Hoge,Fenton,Jones &Appel Inc. in San Jose,California. In 1989,Governor George Deukmejian appointed him as a Santa Clara County Superior Court judge. [1]
On July 26,1991,President George H. W. Bush nominated Whyte to a new seat on the United States District Court for the Northern District of California created by 104 Stat. 5089. He was confirmed by the United States Senate on February 6,1992,and received his commission on March 2,1992. He assumed senior status on March 2,2009. [1] He assumed inactive status on November 1,2016. [2] Whyte died on April 10,2023,at the age of 80. [1] [3]
Whyte originated and led the development of the Northern District of California's Local Patent Rules,which have been adopted by district courts across the country. [2] [4] [5] Whyte also led the development of model jury instructions –including patent jury instructions –and protective orders. [2] Stanford Law Professor Mark Lemley also called Whyte "the Dean of the Silicon Valley bench." [2]
Whyte's professional activities included serving on the Dean of Santa Clara Law School's High Tech Advisory Council (2001–20??),the Executive Committee Santa Clara Inn of Court (1992-2013;president 1997–1998),the Patent Rules Committee for the Northern District of California (1996– ?),Patent Jury Instruction Committee for the Northern District of California (2000–20??),and member of the National Jury Instruction Project (2008–2009). [2]
Whyte also sat by designation on panels of both the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit and the United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit and authored published opinions in both courts. [2]
Ronald Sing Wai Lew was a United States district judge of the United States District Court for the Central District of California.
Sidney Allen Fitzwater is a senior United States district judge of the United States District Court for the Northern District of Texas in Dallas,Texas.
Maxine Mackler Chesney is a senior United States district judge of the United States District Court for the Northern District of California.
Audrey Brodie Collins is an American lawyer who has served as an associate justice of the Second District Court of Appeal for the State of California since 2014. She previously served as a United States district judge of the United States District Court for the Central District of California from 1994 to 2014.
Suzanne Elizabeth Brown Conlon is an American attorney and jurist who is a senior United States district judge of the United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois.
Jeremy Don Fogel is a former United States district judge of the United States District Court for the Northern District of California. Fogel was appointed by President Bill Clinton. He was a judge for the municipal court and superior court of Santa Clara County,California from 1981 to 1998. He served as Director of the Federal Judicial Center from 2011 to 2018.
Phyllis Jean Hamilton is a senior United States district judge of the United States District Court for the Northern District of California.
Edward Francis Harrington is an American lawyer who serves as a senior United States district judge of the United States District Court for the District of Massachusetts.
Paul Joseph Kelly Jr. is a senior United States circuit judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit. His chambers are in Santa Fe,New Mexico.
Gary Lee Lancaster was a United States district judge of the United States District Court for the Western District of Pennsylvania.
Jeffrey Timo Miller is a senior United States district judge of the United States District Court for the Southern District of California.
Theresa Lazar Springmann is a senior United States district judge of the United States District Court for the Northern District of Indiana.
George Howping Wu is an American senior United States district judge of the United States District Court for the Central District of California.
Lucy Haeran Koh is an American lawyer serving as a United States circuit judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit. Koh previously served as a United States district judge of the United States District Court for the Northern District of California from 2010 to 2021. She also served as a California state court judge of the Santa Clara County Superior Court from 2008 to 2010. She is the first Korean American woman to serve on a federal appellate court in the United States.
Edward John Davila is an American lawyer who serves as a senior United States district judge of the United States District Court for the Northern District of California. He was previously a California state court judge of the Santa Clara County Superior Court from 2001 to 2011.
William Horsley Orrick III is an American lawyer who serves as a senior United States district judge of the United States District Court for the Northern District of California. He had a long career as a lawyer in private practice in San Francisco,and served as a Deputy Assistant Attorney General in the Civil Division of the United States Department of Justice during the Obama administration.
Michelle Kwok Lee,born 1965 in Santa Clara,California,was a former Under Secretary of Commerce for Intellectual Property and Director of the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO).
Dabney Langhorne Friedrich is an American attorney and jurist serving as a United States district court judge of the United States District Court for the District of Columbia. She previously served as a member of the United States Sentencing Commission.
Charles Joseph Williams is the chief United States district judge of the United States District Court for the Northern District of Iowa. He was formerly a United States magistrate judge of the same court.
Ada Elene Brown is an American lawyer who is a district judge of the United States District Court for the Northern District of Texas. She is a former trial judge of the Dallas County courts and a former Justice of the Fifth Court of Appeals of Texas. She was the first African-American woman federal judge nominated by President Donald Trump and confirmed by the Senate. She is also the first African American woman to sit as a federal judge in the 140- year-history of the Northern District of Texas.