Kate Menendez was nominated to the United States District Court for the District of Minnesota by President Joe Biden, and was confirmed by the Senate on December 18, 2021. Prior to her confirmation, she served as a United States Magistrate Judge for five and a half years.

Before taking the bench, Judge Menendez was an Assistant Federal Defender for more than 18 years. Her work in the Defender’s Office included all levels of practice, from initial appearances through trial and appeal. During Judge Menendez’s time as a public defender, she handled a variety of complex cases, including representing detainees at Guantanamo Bay and serving as habeas counsel in a federal capital case. She was also lead counsel and argued twice to the Supreme Court in Johnson v. United States (2015).

Judge Menendez earned her undergraduate degree at the University of Chicago and went to law school at NYU, where she was a Root Tilden Snow Public Interest Scholar. She then clerked for the late (and wonderful) Hon. Sam. J. Ervin III on the Fourth Circuit.