Speaker Name
Hon. M. Hannah Lauck
Job Title
U.S. District Judge
Company
Virginia Eastern District Court
Speaker Bio
M. Hannah Lauck became a United States District Judge in the Richmond Division of the Eastern District of Virginia in 2014 after serving there as a United States Magistrate Judge since 2005. President Obama nominated her to become a United States District Judge, and the Senate confirmed her by a unanimous vote. She was the first female United States Magistrate Judge in the Richmond Division, as well as the first female United States District Judge in the Richmond Division.
Judge Lauck grew up in Northern Virginia and attended Fairfax County, Virginia public schools. She received her B.A. in Political Science from Wellesley College, magna cum laude and Phi Beta Kappa, in 1986. She then received her J.D. in 1991 from Yale Law School. While a law student at Yale, she served as a founding member of the Yale Journal of Law and Feminism. After law school, she clerked for the Honorable James R. Spencer in the Richmond Division of the Eastern District of Virginia.
Upon completing her clerkship in 1992, Judge Lauck joined a Washington, D.C. litigation law firm as an associate. In 1994, she became an Assistant U.S. Attorney in Richmond, a position she held for ten years and in which she prosecuted both civil and criminal cases. Before becoming a judge, Judge Lauck worked as a Supervising Litigation Attorney at the headquarters of Genworth Financial, Inc., then a Fortune 500 company based in Richmond. She also taught at the University of Richmond School of Law as an adjunct professor for fourteen years.
In addition to her duties in the Richmond Division, Judge Lauck now serves as a member of the Judicial Conference’s Advisory Committee for Civil Rules and as a liaison to the Judicial Conference’s Advisory Committee for Evidence Rules. In 2022, Judge Lauck was elected to the American Law Institute.
Judge Lauck has previously served as the President of the John Marshall American Inn of Court. She has also served on the boards of the Richmond Bar Association, Metropolitan Richmond Women’s Bar Association, District Four of the National Association of Women Judges, and St. Stephen’s Preschool. Additionally, she has participated in the State-Federal Judicial Council of Virginia and served as a member of the Professionalism Advisory Committee with the Virginia Supreme Court. She currently serves on the Board for the Federal Bar Association and as a member of the Virginia Bar Association Committee on Special Issues of National and State Importance.
Judge Lauck has received various honors including recognition as one of Virginia’s Leaders in the Law (2011); the Woman of Achievement Award, Metro Richmond Women’s Bar Association (2014); a Commendation by Virginia Women Attorneys Association (2014); an Influential Women of Law, Virginia Lawyers Weekly (2019); and the Carrico Professionalism Award, Criminal Law Section of the Virginia State Bar Association (awarded by practicing criminal lawyers in Virginia) (2019).
Judge Lauck grew up in Northern Virginia and attended Fairfax County, Virginia public schools. She received her B.A. in Political Science from Wellesley College, magna cum laude and Phi Beta Kappa, in 1986. She then received her J.D. in 1991 from Yale Law School. While a law student at Yale, she served as a founding member of the Yale Journal of Law and Feminism. After law school, she clerked for the Honorable James R. Spencer in the Richmond Division of the Eastern District of Virginia.
Upon completing her clerkship in 1992, Judge Lauck joined a Washington, D.C. litigation law firm as an associate. In 1994, she became an Assistant U.S. Attorney in Richmond, a position she held for ten years and in which she prosecuted both civil and criminal cases. Before becoming a judge, Judge Lauck worked as a Supervising Litigation Attorney at the headquarters of Genworth Financial, Inc., then a Fortune 500 company based in Richmond. She also taught at the University of Richmond School of Law as an adjunct professor for fourteen years.
In addition to her duties in the Richmond Division, Judge Lauck now serves as a member of the Judicial Conference’s Advisory Committee for Civil Rules and as a liaison to the Judicial Conference’s Advisory Committee for Evidence Rules. In 2022, Judge Lauck was elected to the American Law Institute.
Judge Lauck has previously served as the President of the John Marshall American Inn of Court. She has also served on the boards of the Richmond Bar Association, Metropolitan Richmond Women’s Bar Association, District Four of the National Association of Women Judges, and St. Stephen’s Preschool. Additionally, she has participated in the State-Federal Judicial Council of Virginia and served as a member of the Professionalism Advisory Committee with the Virginia Supreme Court. She currently serves on the Board for the Federal Bar Association and as a member of the Virginia Bar Association Committee on Special Issues of National and State Importance.
Judge Lauck has received various honors including recognition as one of Virginia’s Leaders in the Law (2011); the Woman of Achievement Award, Metro Richmond Women’s Bar Association (2014); a Commendation by Virginia Women Attorneys Association (2014); an Influential Women of Law, Virginia Lawyers Weekly (2019); and the Carrico Professionalism Award, Criminal Law Section of the Virginia State Bar Association (awarded by practicing criminal lawyers in Virginia) (2019).
Speaking At
