Laura Taylor Swain

Laura Taylor Swain (born November 21, 1958) is the Chief United States district judge of the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York. Education and career Born in Brooklyn, New York, Swain earned an Artium Baccalaureus degree in 1979 from Radcliffe College. She earned a Juris Doctor from Harvard Law School in 1982. From 1982 until 1983, Swain worked as a law clerk for Judge Constance Baker Motley of the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York. From 1983 until 1996, Swain worked in private legal practice in New York City, practicing as an associate, and then counsel, in the areas of ERISA, employee benefits, executive compensation and employee law for the firm Debevoise & Plimpton. Swain also served as a member of the New York State Board of Law Examiners from 1986 to 1996. She chaired the advisory committee for the Federal Rules of Bankruptcy Procedure from 2007 to 2010.