The Hon. Barbara A. McAuliffe is a U.S. Magistrate Judge of the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of California, Fresno Division. She was appointed to the District Court in 2011.
Judge McAuliffe received her B.S. from Louisiana State University in 1980. She went on to earn her J.D. magna cum laude from the University of San Diego School of Law in 1989. While in law school, McAuliffe served as the executive editor of the Law Review.
Upon graduating from law school, McAuliffe began her legal career in private practice. She first joined the law firm Gibson, Dunn, and Crutcher LLP in 1989, and then Lang, Richert, and Patch in 1991. Four years later, McAuliffe would then partner at Motschiedler, Michaelides, and Wishon LLP. During her tenure in private practice, she specialized in civil litigation with an emphasis on employment, construction, and business litigation.
Then, in 2000, she became a clerk to the Hon. Lawrence J. O'Neill, with the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of California. During her eleven-year tenure as Judge O'Neill's clerk, McAuliffe was responsible for managing his high-volume caseload. She remained in that capacity until her appointment to the District Court in 2011.
McAuliffe has also taught legal research and writing, business law, business ethics, administrative law, and international law as an adjunct professor.