The U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California is pleased to announce that it has selected California Deputy Attorney General Lisa J. Cisneros to fill the magistrate judgeship recently vacated by Judge Jacqueline Scott Corley upon her appointment as a U.S. District Judge.
Ms. Cisneros will join the court from the California Department of Justice, where she serves as a Deputy Attorney General in the Civil Rights Enforcement Section. In this capacity, she has represented California and its agencies in complex affirmative and defensive litigation, primarily in the federal trial and appellate courts. Ms. Cisneros has led teams litigating cases in the areas of gender equality, immigration, healthcare, workplace safety, and antidiscrimination law.
Ms. Cisneros graduated from Brown University in 2001 and received her law degree from UC Berkeley School of Law in 2007. She began her legal career at California Rural Legal Assistance, Inc., (CRLA) where she started and led the LGBT Program. The Program provides direct representation and advocacy for low-income LGBT individuals in rural areas; it has become a nationwide model for LGBT legal services. At CRLA, Ms. Cisneros also assisted with federal litigation outside of the LGBT Program and participated in several mediations and settlement negotiations.
From 2010–2012, Ms. Cisneros served as a law clerk for U.S. District Judge Claudia Wilken of this court. Following her clerkship, Ms. Cisneros practiced for two years as an Associate at Lieff Cabraser Heimann & Bernstein, LLP, where she assisted with suits on behalf of employees and consumers in mass tort, class action, and antitrust cases. This work involved extensive exposure to discovery disputes, settlement conferences, and multidistrict litigation. Ms. Cisneros also maintained an active pro bono practice, including writing amicus briefs to the federal appellate courts, including the Supreme Court. Ms. Cisneros then returned to CRLA for four years, before moving to her current role at the California Department of Justice in 2019.
In addition to her law practice, Ms. Cisneros was appointed by the Governor as a member of the California Fair Employment & Housing Council, where she promulgated regulations and conducted hearings from 2017–2018.
The Court warmly welcomes Magistrate Judge-Select Cisneros and anticipates that her knowledge of federal law and practice will enhance the Court’s service to litigants in the San Francisco Division. Her selection is contingent on the successful completion of a background review by the FBI.