From 2003 to 2004, Lin served as a
law clerk for Judge
Sandra Lynch of the
United States Court of Appeals for the First Circuit. She joined
Morrison & Foerster in
San Francisco as an associate in 2004 and later became a partner at the firm. From 2014 to 2018, she served as an
assistant United States attorney for the Northern District of California. She was appointed to serve as a judge of the
San Francisco County Superior Court by Governor
Jerry Brown in 2018. Lin was an
adjunct professor of law at the
University of California, Hastings College of the Law, where in the fall 2021 semester she co-taught a course on
criminal procedure.
Federal judicial service On July 29, 2022, President
Joe Biden announced his intent to nominate Lin to serve as a
United States district judge of the
United States District Court for the Northern District of California. On November 30, 2022, a hearing on her nomination was held before the
Senate Judiciary Committee. On January 3, 2023, her nomination was returned to the President under
Rule XXXI, Paragraph 6 of the
United States Senate. She was renominated on January 23, 2023. On February 9, 2023, her nomination was reported out of committee by a 12–9 vote. On September 19, 2023, the Senate invoked
cloture on her nomination by a 52–45 vote. Later that day, her nomination was confirmed by a 52–45 vote. She received her judicial commission on October 4, 2023. Lin is the second
Asian Pacific American woman—and first
Chinese American woman—to serve on the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California. == Personal life ==