Marsha J. Pechman

Marsha J. Pechman (born 1951) is a Senior United States federal judge of the United States District Court for the Western District of Washington.

Born in Salem, Oregon, Pechman received a B.A. from Cornell University in 1973 and a J.D. from Boston University in 1976. She was a Legal intern, King County Prosecutor's Office, WA in 1976. She was a Deputy prosecutor, King County Prosecuting Attorney's Office, WA from 1976 to 1979. She was an Instructor/staff attorney of University of Washington School of Law from 1979 to 1981. She was in private practice in Seattle from 1981 to 1988. She was an Adjunct professor, University of Puget Sound from 1983 to 1987. She was a judge on the King County Superior Court, WA from 1988 to 1999.

On March 24, 1999, Pechman was nominated by President Bill Clinton to a seat on the United States District Court for the Western District of Washington vacated by William L. Dwyer. She was confirmed by the United States Senate on September 8, 1999, and received her commission on September 9, 1999. On September 1, 2011, she was elevated to Chief Judge, succeeding Judge Robert S. Lasnik. She assumed senior status on February 6, 2016.

Pechman is most well known for presiding over the 2008 trial between the City of Seattle and the owners of the Seattle SuperSonics.

Personal

Pechman has two daughters. One daughter, Colleen Fitzharris, lives in Detroit, Michigan, and works as a federal public defender. The other daughter, Ellen Fitzharris, works for YWCA USA in Portland, Oregon.

Sources

• Marsha J. Pechman at the Biographical Directory of Federal Judges, a public domain publication of the Federal Judicial Center.