Marilyn Hall Patel

Who is Marilyn Hall Patel?

Marilyn Hall Patel is a retired federal judge who presided in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California. She was Chief District Judge of that jurisdiction from 1997 until 2004, and heard several notable cases during that time.

Patel was born Marilyn Hall in Amsterdam, New York. She obtained a BA from Wheaton College in 1959 and a Juris Doctor degree from Fordham University in 1963.

From 1963 until 1967 she worked as an attorney in private practice in New York City. From 1967 until 1971 she was general counsel for the US Immigration and Naturalization Service in San Francisco. She then returned to private practice in San Francisco before becoming adjunct professor of law at the University of California Hastings College of the Law, where she remained until 1976. In 1976 she was appointed to the bench of the Municipal Court for the Oakland-Piedmont Judicial District, a position she held until 1980.

On May 9, 1980, President Jimmy Carter nominated Patel to fill the seat vacated by Lloyd Hudson Burke on the US District Court for Northern California. She was confirmed by the United States Senate in June of that year.