United States Magistrate Judge Jennifer L. Thurston (JLT)

Federal Judicial Service:

U. S. District Court, Eastern District of California
Appointed United States Magistrate Judge December 31, 2009

Education:

California State University, Bakersfield, B.S. Business Administration with a concentration in Marketing, 1989

California Pacific School of Law, J.D., 1997

Professional Career:

1998-2009
Deputy County Counsel, Office of the Kern County Counsel, Bakersfield, CA

2007-2009
Judge Pro Tem, Kern County Superior Court , Bakersfield, CA

Biography:

Magistrate Judge Jennifer L. Thurston was appointed in 2009. Since this time, she has presided over numerous bench trials and jury trials. She has extensive experience with discovery matters and case-dispositive and non-dispositive law and motion practice. She has conducted hundreds of settlement conferences and has successfully settled cases involving complicated and highly technical issues.

Before appointment, Judge Thurston was an active litigator and handled a huge variety of cases including, for example, civil rights matters, personal injury claims, wrongful death actions, premises liability claims, elections law challenges, subrogation actions and employment disputes, among other topics. She became a Certified Appellate Specialist in 2005 and, before her appointment, had handled more than 100 appeals and writs in the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals, the Fifth District Court of Appeal and the California Supreme Court.

In addition to her role as the ADR Judge for the Fresno Division of the Eastern District of California and a member of the District’s Technology User Group Committee, she is a member on the Ninth Circuit Conference’s Magistrate Judge Education Committee. As a former Board Member, Treasurer and Vice President of the Kern County Bar Association, Judge Thurston remains an active member of the Editorial Board and columnist for the Kern County Bar Association’s magazine.

Judge Thurston has significant experience and brings a unique, practical perspective to the cases brought before her.  Judge Thurston sits in Bakersfield primarily but hears cases in Fresno as well.