Senator Murray Applauds Nomination of Civil Rights Lawyer Tiffany M. Cartwright to Federal Bench in Washington State

Washington, D.C. — Today, U.S. Senator Patty Murray commended President Joe Biden on his nomination of Tiffany M. Cartwright to serve as a U.S. District Court judge for the Western District of Washington. Cartwright would be the first woman to serve as a federal district court judge from the Tacoma courthouse.

“Our federal court system must deliver justice for everyone, not just the powerful and well connected. The best way to make that promise real is to confirm more judges like Ms. Cartwright to our federal bench. She is a tested and proven civil rights attorney with extensive federal court experience, and a track record of seeking justice for people who have faced discrimination, police misconduct, and more. I’m proud to have recommended her to the Biden administration and I’ll be pushing hard for her confirmation,” said Senator Murray.

Tiffany M. Cartwright is a partner at the Seattle law firm of MacDonald, Hoague & Bayless, a leading civil rights firm in the Pacific Northwest she joined in 2014. Ms. Cartwright graduated from Stanford University and Stanford Law, where she was a member of the Stanford Supreme Court Litigation Clinic, gaining a wide range of appellate experience writing petitions for review, merits briefs and amicus briefs filed in the United States Supreme Court. Cartwright has long been committed to protecting those from marginalized communities, from working on cases involving police misconduct to gender discrimination and sexual harassment in the workplace. She has tried cases in state and federal court, argued twice before the Washington Supreme Court, and served as lead counsel in numerous state and federal employment and civil rights matters.

Ms. Cartwright has had extensive federal practice experience over the course of her career at MacDonald, Hoague & Bayless, and prior to that, with the law firm Jenner & Block. She is also a former judicial clerk to Judge Betty Fletcher on the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals and for Justice Dana Fabe of the Alaska Supreme Court, lending her valuable insight into the roles that judges play in our legal system.

A native of Washington state, Ms. Cartwright grew up in Kitsap County and now lives in Seattle with her family. In addition to her legal work, she advocates for women’s rights by serving on the Board of Directors for Legal Voice, works to improve civil practice in the Western District of Washington by serving on the Local Rules Committee of the WDWA Federal Bar Association, and writes pro bono amicus briefs on behalf of the Washington Employment Lawyers Association and Legal Voice.