Judge Dolly M. Gee

Dolly M. Gee serves as Chief Judge of the United States District Court for the Central District of California. She was appointed to the federal bench by President Barack Obama in 2009 and received her commission in January 2010, becoming the first Chinese American woman to serve as an Article III federal judge. Before joining the bench, she was a partner at Schwartz, Steinsapir, Dohrmann & Sommers LLP in Los Angeles, where she specialized in labor and employment law. Chief Judge Gee received her B.A., summa cum laude, and J.D. from UCLA and clerked for the late U.S. District Judge Milton L. Schwartz in the Eastern District of California. In 2026, she received the American Inns of Court Professionalism Award for the Ninth Circuit.