LMU Loyola Law School is pleased to announce that U.S. District Court Judge André Birotte Jr. will provide the keynote address to LLS graduates during the law school’s Commencement Ceremony to be held at 12 p.m. on Sunday, May 15, 2022 in the Sunken Garden on LMU’s Westchester campus.
On August 8, 2014, Judge Birotte was sworn in as a federal district judge for the U.S. District Court, Central District of California. Judge Birotte was nominated by President Barack Obama on April 3, 2014. He was confirmed unanimously by the Senate on July 22, 2014, and received his commission on August 8, 2014. Judge Birotte presides over matters in Los Angeles in the Court’s Western Division in Courtroom 4 of the United States Courthouse.
Judge Birotte had served as U.S. Attorney for the Central District of California since his appointment in 2010 by President Barack Obama. As U.S. Attorney, Judge Birotte was responsible for overseeing approximately 265 attorneys and 200 staff members located in offices in Los Angeles, Riverside, and Santa Ana. During that time, he also served on the U.S. Attorney General’s Advisory Committee, co-chairing its Terrorism/National Security Subcommittee and serving on its Border and Immigration Law Enforcement, Civil Rights, Cyber/Intellectual Property, Violent and Organized Crime, and White Collar/Fraud Subcommittees. He was also a Co-Chair of the multi-agency Financial Fraud Enforcement Task Force’s Consumer Protection Working Group.
From 2003 to 2010, Judge Birotte served as Inspector General of the Los Angeles Police Department. As head of the Office of the Inspector General, he was responsible for conducting and overseeing LAPD internal investigations and audits to ensure compliance with both LAPD policies and mandates imposed by a Federal Consent Decree. Judge Birotte first joined the Office of the Inspector General in 2001 as an Assistant Inspector General.
From 1999 to 2001, Judge Birotte worked as an associate at Quinn Emanuel, where he represented clients in white-collar crime and commercial litigation matters. Prior to joining Quinn Emanuel, Judge Birotte served as an Assistant U.S. Attorney in the Central District from 1995 to 1999, and as a Deputy Public Defender in Los Angeles County from 1991 to 1995. Judge Birotte holds an undergraduate degree from Tufts University and a J.D. from Pepperdine University School of Law.
Judge Birotte fills the Central District judgeship vacated by Senior U.S. District Judge Gary Allen Feess. The Central District of California is comprised of the counties of Los Angeles, Orange, Riverside, San Bernardino, Ventura, Santa Barbara, and San Luis Obispo. It serves approximately 19.6 million people – nearly half the population of the state of California. In 2013, more than 15,000 cases were filed in the Central District.
