Jacqueline Scott Corley

Jacqueline Scott Corley (née Jacqueline Marie Scott, born 1966) is a United States district judge of the United States District Court for the Northern District of California. She served as a United States Magistrate Judge of the same court from 2011 to 2022.

Education Corley graduated from the University of California, Berkeley, with an undergraduate degree in 1988, and, in 1991, graduated with her Juris Doctor degree magna cum laude from Harvard Law School, where she was also an editor and articles chair on the Harvard Law Review.

She then practiced with the law firm of Goodwin Procter in Boston, focusing on white collar criminal defense as well as complex commercial civil litigation from 1992 to 1994.

On November 3, 2021, President Joe Biden nominated Corley to serve as a United States district judge of the United States District Court for the Northern District of California. President Biden nominated Corley to the seat vacated by Judge William Alsup, who assumed senior status on January 21, 2021. On December 1, 2021, a hearing on her nomination was held before the Senate Judiciary Committee. On January 3, 2022, her nomination was returned to the President under Rule XXXI, Paragraph 6 of the United States Senate; she was later renominated the same day. On January 13, 2022, her nomination was reported out of committee by a 16–6 vote. On March 16, 2022, the Senate invoked cloture on her nomination by a 63–35 vote. On March 17, 2022, her nomination was confirmed by a 63–36 vote. She received her judicial commission on March 30, 2022. In July 2023, Corley ruled that the FTC hadn't proven that the deal would harm consumers. On May 7, 2025, the Ninth Circuit upheld the judge's decision that the FTC had failed to demonstrate that the agreement substantially reduced competition in the various markets. Two weeks later, the FTC dismissed the case, concluding that it was no longer in the public interest.