Who appointed Edward Milton Chen?

President Barack Obama appointed Edward Milton Chen to the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California in 2011.

Was Edward Milton Chen appointed by a Democrat or a Republican?

Edward Milton Chen was appointed by President Barack Obama, a Democrat. JudicialFinder records the appointing president's party, not a judge's own politics.

What was Edward Milton Chen's confirmation vote?

The Senate confirmed Edward Milton Chen 56–42 on May 10, 2011.

Northern District of California / Appointed 2011 / Senior status since 2022

Edward Milton Chen

Judge, U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California

Appointed by President Barack Obama in 2011 and confirmed by the Senate 56–42, Edward Milton Chen is a Judge on the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California. He earned a law degree from University of California, Berkeley, School of Law in 1979. Rulings & record ↓ Sources ↓

Born: 1953 · age 73
Appointed by: Barack Obama, 2011
Confirmed: 56–42
Education: University of California, Berkeley 1975 · University of California, Berkeley, Law 1979
Succeeded: Martin J. Jenkins
Succeeded by: Rita Faye Lin

Federal judicial service

Year	Court	Appointed by	Vote
2011	Northern District of California succeeded Martin J. Jenkins	Obama (D)	56–42

Party letters show the appointing president’s party, not the judge’s own.

Confirmation vote

Nomination Confirmed 56–42 on May 10, 2011 · 112th Congress, Roll Call 68. Each senator links to their judicial-voting record.

Voted to confirm · 56

50 D, 4 R, 2 I

Voted against · 42

42 R

Did not vote · 2

1 D, 1 R

Jay Rockefeller(D-WV)
David Vitter(R-LA)

Education

University of California, Berkeley	A.B.	1975
University of California, Berkeley, School of Law	J.D.	1979

Judicial Record

Caseload & case types

In our data, Chen was assigned 4,618 district-court cases (1971–2026). Median time from filing to termination: 226 days across 4,352 closed cases.

Other civil matters34%

Civil rights11%

Other federal statutes11%

Labor & ERISA8%

Contract7%

Intellectual property7%

Other22%

Case assignment is from CourtListener’s PACER-derived docket records: a partial sample, not a complete caseload, reflecting the judge last assigned each case. How we count.

On appeal

Of 260 of Chen’s decisions reviewed on the merits by the U.S. courts of appeals in our data, 183 were affirmed, 51 reversed or vacated, and 26 affirmed in part and reversed in part. This is a historical count of appellate outcomes for cases we could match, not a judgment of the judge, and not a complete record. How we count.

In our data, Chen authored 58 published opinions for the court (2002–2011). Most cited: Brady v. Mercedes-Benz USA, Inc. (156 citations).

A selective record from published opinions in the CourtListener corpus, not every ruling; most unpublished district orders are not included. Counts and rankings are objective and recomputable: how we count. We describe the record, not the judge.

Recent & notable rulings

Year	Case	Citation	Cited
2002	Brady v. Mercedes-Benz USA, Inc.	243 F. Supp. 2d 1004	156
2011	Barnes & Noble, Inc. v. LSI CORP.	823 F. Supp. 2d 980	67
2009	Consumer Solutions Reo, LLC v. Hillery	658 F. Supp. 2d 1002	52
2010	Harris v. Vector Marketing Corp.	753 F. Supp. 2d 996	40
2003	Joseph v. J.J. Mac Intyre Companies, LLC	281 F. Supp. 2d 1156	37
2003	North Pacifica, LLC v. City of Pacifica	274 F. Supp. 2d 1118	34
2005	Cole v. Doe 1 Thru 2 Officers of Emeryville Police Department	387 F. Supp. 2d 1084	32
2002	Joseph v. JJ Mac Intyre Companies, LLC	238 F. Supp. 2d 1158	31
2010	Harris v. Vector Marketing Corp.	716 F. Supp. 2d 835	30
2006	Singh v. Still	470 F. Supp. 2d 1064	30
2011	Freeman v. ABC LEGAL SERVICES, INC.	827 F. Supp. 2d 1065	25
2011	San Francisco Baykeeper v. WEST BAY SANITARY DISTRICT	791 F. Supp. 2d 719	22
2010	Shared Memory Graphics LLC v. Apple, Inc.	812 F. Supp. 2d 1022	22
2007	United States v. Gardner	523 F. Supp. 2d 1025	19
2009	Stuart v. RADIOSHACK CORPORATION	641 F. Supp. 2d 901	18

Showing the 15 most-cited of 58 authored opinions in our data. “Cited” is inbound citations across the CourtListener corpus. Case links open the ruling’s full text (CourtListener) or its page here; read the methodology and verify against the primary source.

Questions & answers

Who appointed Edward Milton Chen?: President Barack Obama appointed Edward Milton Chen to the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California in 2011.
Was Edward Milton Chen appointed by a Democrat or a Republican?: Edward Milton Chen was appointed by President Barack Obama, a Democrat. JudicialFinder records the appointing president's party, not a judge's own politics.
What was Edward Milton Chen's confirmation vote?: The Senate confirmed Edward Milton Chen 56–42 on May 10, 2011.
Which court is Edward Milton Chen on?: Edward Milton Chen is a Judge on the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California.

Sources

Each fact on this page traces to a primary public record.

How we source & reconcile data → Data & Sources

See something wrong? Report an error. Fixes are logged in the corrections log.

15 years on the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California. Data as of 2026-08-10. Informational only; verify against the primary source before relying. Not a consumer report (FCRA).