Attorney General William Barr appointed Melissa B. Karlen to begin hearing cases in October 2019. Judge Karlen earned a Bachelor of Arts in 1998 from the University of California, Riverside, and a Juris Doctor in 2001 from University of San Francisco School of Law. From 2008 to 2019, she served as an assistant U.S. attorney with the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Arizona, Department of Justice, in Phoenix. From 2007 to 2008, she served as an assistant chief counsel, Office of the Chief Counsel, Office of the Principal Legal Advisor, Immigration and Customs Enforcement, Department of Homeland Security, in Los Angeles. From 2002 to 2007, she served as a deputy prosecuting attorney with the City and County of Honolulu Prosecutor’s Office, in Honolulu. From 2001 to 2002, she worked in private practice, in San Francisco. Judge Karlen is a member of the Arizona State Bar, California State Bar, Hawaii State Bar, and Washington State Bar.