AUTUMN D. SPAETH was appointed as a United States Magistrate
Judge in 2018. Judge Spaeth sits in Santa Ana at the Ronald Reagan
Federal Courthouse.
Judge Spaeth brings a wealth of commercial litigation experience to
the bench. Judge Spaeth’s career began as an associate in the Trial
Department of McDermott, Will & Emery where her practice
included business and intellectual property litigation in state and
federal courts. Judge Spaeth’s practice grew to include insolvency
related litigation at Albert, Weiland & Golden, which became
Weiland, Golden, Smiley, Wang Ekvall & Strok, LLP, before she
joined Smiley Wang-Ekvall, LLP as a founding partner in 2014.
Prior to taking the bench, Judge Spaeth’s practice concentrated on business litigation and
bankruptcy related litigation.
Judge Spaeth currently serves as a member of the following boards:
Board of the Federal Bar Association, Orange County Chapter; and
Board of Governors of the Association of Business Trial Lawyers Orange County.
She previously served in the following capacities:
Chair of the Ninth Circuit Conference Executive Committee;
Chair of the Ninth Circuit Lawyer Representatives Coordinating Committee;
Co-Chair of the Central District of California Lawyer Representatives to the Ninth
Circuit Judicial Conference; and
Board of Directors for the Orange County Bar Association and as the Chair of the
Commercial Law & Bankruptcy Section and the Legislative Resolutions
Committee.
Judge Spaeth received her Bachelor of Arts in political science from the University of
California Los Angeles. She graduated from the University of Southern California with a
Juris Doctor from the Law School and a Master of Arts in Communication Management
from the Annenberg School of Communication.
