Attorney General Jeff Sessions appointed Cynthia Shepherd Torg to begin hearing cases in October 2018. Judge Torg earned a Bachelor of Arts in 1989 from the University of Virginia and a Juris Doctor in 1992 from the University of Virginia School of Law. From 1998 to 2018, she was a senior trial attorney for the Organized Crime and Gang Section, Criminal Division, Department of Justice (DOJ), in Washington, D.C. From 2004 to 2008, she was chief counsel, Human Smuggling and Trafficking Center, Criminal Division, DOJ, in Washington, D.C. From 1993 to 1998, she was an assistant commonwealth’s attorney in Virginia Beach, Virginia. From 1992 to 1993, she clerked for the Honorable Tommy E. Miller, U.S. District Court in the Eastern District of Virginia in Norfolk. Judge Torg is a member of the Virginia State Bar.