Hon. James L. Robart

U.S. District Judge, Western District of Washington

Judge Robart became a U.S. District Court Judge for the Western District of Washington in June 2004. Prior to his appointment, he was with Lane Powell in Seattle for 32 years, where he served as Chair of the Litigation Department and Managing Partner. Judge Robart has presided over several notable civil and criminal cases. His opinion in Simmonds v. Credit Suisse, construing the statute of limitations for Section 16(b) of the Securities and Exchange Act of 1934, was reversed by the Ninth Circuit, but adopted by the United States Supreme Court in an 8-0 opinion. Judge Robart is the judge in United States v. City of Seattle, overseeing a consent decree involving an overhaul of Seattle Police Department practices and procedures. In Microsoft v. Motorola, he also authored the first court opinion in the United States setting reasonable and nondiscriminatory (“RAND”) rates for standard essential patents, an opinion affirmed by the Ninth Circuit in July 2015. Judge Robart served on the Organizing Committee and the Board of Governors for the Federal Bar Association, is a Fellow of the American College of Trial Lawyers, and serves on the Ninth Circuit Information Technology Committee. He graduated from Whitman College (B.A. 1969) and Georgetown University Law Center (J.D. 1973). Judge Robart is currently serving as a Judicial Advisor for The Sedona Conference’s Working Group 9 on Patent Damages and Remedies (WG9) and Working Group 10 on Patent Litigation Best Practices Steering Committee (WG10).