The Court is pleased to announce that it has selected Assistant United States Attorney Alex G. Tse to fill the magistrate judgeship to be vacated October 25, 2019, with the retirement of Magistrate Judge Elizabeth Laporte.
Mr. Tse will join the Court after serving for nearly 20 years in various positions with the United States Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of California, including one-year as the Interim U.S. Attorney when that position was vacant pending the presidential appointment of the current U.S. Attorney, David Anderson. Prior to that interim appointment, he served as a First Assistant U.S. Attorney.
Mr. Tse began his legal career in 1990 in private practice. In 1994, he became a line Assistant United States Attorney in the Civil Division, where he defended the federal government in civil cases, and pursued civil actions against defendants who defrauded the government. In 2001, Mr. Tse became a Deputy Chief of the Civil Division. While he continued to litigate defensive cases, the majority of his work was in the area of affirmative civil enforcement. This included investigations and litigation primarily under the False Claims Act. His primary areas of litigation included health care and financial institution fraud.
In late 2006, Mr. Tse left the United States Attorney’s Office and in 2007 took a position as an Assistant Chief City Attorney for the City and County of San Francisco, where he led the team of Deputy City Attorneys charged with investigating and abating public nuisance.
In late 2012, Mr. Tse returned to the U.S. Attorney’s Office as the Chief of the Civil Division. In 2016, he received a Special Commendation from the Civil Division of the U.S. Department of Justice, and he received a Director’s Award for Superior Performance from the Executive Office of U.S. Attorneys in 2017.
He has served on various court committees in the Northern District of California including the court’s Civil Local Rules Attorney Advisory Committee and the Criminal Rules and Practice Committee, and he has served as a volunteer court appointed mediator and early neutral evaluator for a number of years.
Mr. Tse is a graduate of the University of California at Berkeley, and the University of California, Hastings College of the Law.
The Court anticipates that Magistrate Judge-Select Tse’s broad knowledge of federal law and practice, in both the civil and criminal arenas, will enhance the Court’s service to litigants in the San Francisco Division. His selection is contingent on the successful completion of a background review by the FBI.