Schroeder practiced as a trial attorney with the
United States Department of Justice Civil Division from 1965 until 1969. She served as a
law clerk to Justice
Jesse Addison Udall of the
Arizona Supreme Court in 1970. She joined the law firm of
Lewis & Roca in
Phoenix, Arizona, in 1971 and became a partner in 1973. She was appointed to the
Arizona Court of Appeals in 1975 and served until 1979. Schroeder was elected to the
American Law Institute in 1974 and was elected to the ALI Council in 1993. She served as an Adviser on the Restatement Third of Agency and serves as an adviser on the Restatement Third, The Law of Consumer Contracts and Principles of Government Ethics. She served as president of the National Association of Women Judges in 1998-99.
Federal judicial service Schroeder was nominated by President
Jimmy Carter on May 3, 1979, to the
United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit, to a new seat authorized by 92 Stat. 1629. She was confirmed by the
United States Senate on September 25, 1979, and received her commission on September 26, 1979. She served as the first female chief judge of the Ninth Circuit from 2000 to 2007. She assumed
senior status on December 31, 2011.
Awards Schroeder has received numerous prestigious awards, including but not limited to: • the American Law Institute's John Minor Wisdom Award in 2023 • the Arizona State Bar Association's James A. Walsh Outstanding Jurist Award • the American Bar Association's Margaret Brent Award • the Joan Dempsey Klein NAWJ Honoree of the Year Award In addition, the Arizona State University Law School has named two awards after Schroeder: • the Mary M. Schroeder Public Interest Prize • the Judge Mary M. Schroeder Federal Practice Award == Notable cases ==