The Hon. Lawrence J. O'Neill is a District Judge of the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of California, Fresno Division. He was nominated by President George W. Bush in January 2007 and was confirmed by the U.S. Senate the following month. He filled the seat vacated by the Hon. Oliver W. Wanger. He has served as the Chief Judge of the Eastern District of California since 2016. Prior to his nomination, Judge O'Neill had served as a U.S. Magistrate Judge of the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of California since 1999.
He graduated with his A.B. in criminology from the University of California, Berkeley in 1973. He received his M.A. in public administration from Golden Gate University, San Francisco in 1976. O'Neill then earned his J.D. from the University of California, Hastings College of the Law in 1979.
After graduating from college, and while pursuing his master's degree, O'Neill served as a San Leandro police officer for three years.
During law school, he clerked for the Hon. Robert F. Kane with the California Court of Appeal for the First District beginning in 1978. After graduating from law school, he joined the Fresno law firm of McCormick, Barstow, Sheppard, Wayte, and Carruth, where he practiced as an associate until 1984 when he was made a partner. O'Neill continued to practice with the firm in that capacity until receiving a call to the state bench in 1990.
It was at that time that former Governor George Deukmejian appointed him to serve as a judge for the Fresno County Superior Court. Judge O'Neill served on the Superior Court until being selected by the Eastern District Court judges to serve as a magistrate judge in 1999. During his nine-year tenure on the state bench, Judge O'Neill served as the Presiding Judge of the Court from 1993 to 1995.
He also served as an adjunct professor at San Joaquin College of law from 1986 to 1982.
While on the District Court, Judge O'Neill has been outspoken on the issue surrounding a judicial shortage in the Eastern District.
He was born in Oakland, California.