Laura Duffy

Laura Elizabeth Duffy (born 1962) is an American lawyer and judge who serves on the San Diego County Superior Court and served as the United States Attorney for the Southern District of California from 2010 to 2017.

Early life and education Born in Des Moines, Iowa, Duffy attended Northwest Missouri State University and the University of Iowa before graduating from Iowa State University with a Bachelor of Science degree. She earned her Juris Doctor from Creighton University School of Law in Omaha, Nebraska. As a law student at Creighton, she worked as a law clerk in the Douglas County, Nebraska Public Defender's Office. She is best known for her prosecution of members of the Arellano-Felix drug cartel.

On February 24, 2010, Duffy was nominated by President Barack Obama to serve as U.S. Attorney for the Southern District, which covers San Diego and Imperial counties. The Senate Judiciary Committee approved her nomination unanimously on May 27, 2010; she gained unanimous approval from the full Senate the following day.

In December 2016, she was appointed to San Diego County Superior Court by then-Governor Jerry Brown.

Personal Duffy is a lesbian; she is married to Keri Davis, with whom she has one child. At the time of her appointment she was one of four openly LGBT U.S. Attorneys, alongside Jenny Durkan of the Western District of Washington, Anne Tompkins of the Western District of North Carolina, and Robert L. Pitman of the Western District of Texas.