The Hon. Fernando M. Olguin is a judge for the United States District Court for the Central District of California. He was nominated to the bench by former President Barack Obama in May 2012. Olguin was confirmed by the United States Senate in December 2012, filling the vacancy created by the elevation of the Hon. Jacqueline Nguyen to the United States Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit.
Olguin began his judicial tenure as a magistrate for the federal bench in the Central District of California in 2001. During his tenure as a magistrate, he served on the Human Resources Advisory Council, the Pro Se Working Group of the Administrative Office of the United States Courts, and the Magistrate Judges Committee.
He received a bachelor’s degree from Harvard University (1985) and a master’s degree from the University of California, Berkeley (1989). Olguin then completed a J.D. at the University of California, Berkeley School of Law in 1989.
Olguin began his legal career as a judicial law clerk to the Hon. Charles A. Muecke with the United States District Court for the District of Arizona. Then, in 1991, he transitioned into the role of trial attorney, assigned to the Housing and Civil Enforcement Section in the Civil Rights Division of the United States Department of Justice. Olguin held that position until 1994.
It was at that time, that he joined the Mexican-American Legal Defense and Educational Fund in Los Angeles, where he worked briefly as the education program director. The following year, Olguin entered private practice as a partner at Traber, Voorhees & Olguin, where he specialized in housing and employment matters.
His memberships have included the American Bar Association, the Federal Bar Association, the Federal Magistrate Judges Association, the Hispanic National Bar Association, the Los Angeles County Bar Association, and the Mexican American Bar Association.
Olguin was born in Los Angeles, California.