| Jenny Durkan | |
|---|---|
| U.S. Attorney for the Western District of Washington | |
| Incumbent | |
| Assumed office October 1, 2009 |
|
| Appointed by | Barack Obama |
| Preceded by | John L. McKay |
| Personal details | |
| Born | May 19, 1958 Seattle, Washington |
| Political party | Democratic |
| Domestic partner | Dana Garvey |
| Residence | Seattle, Washington |
| Alma mater | Notre Dame UW School of Law |
Jenny Anne Durkan is an American lawyer from Seattle, Washington who serves as the United States Attorney for the Western District of Washington.
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Durkan grew up in Issaquah, Washington and attended a private Catholic girls school.[1] She earned her undergraduate degree from the University of Notre Dame in 1980. After graduating from Notre Dame, Durkan moved to an Eskimo fishing village on the Yukon-Kuskokwim Delta in Alaska, where she taught English and coached a girls basketball team.[1]
Durkan earned her law degree from the University of Washington School of Law in 1985.[2] "I wanted to be a lawyer since I was 5 years old," she told the Seattle Post-Intelligencer in 1992. "When I graduated from law school, my mother said, 'Finally someone is going to pay you to argue."'[1]
Immediately upon graduating from law school in 1985, Durkan began her legal career at the Foster, Pepper & Shefelman law firm as a civil litigator, where she spent two years.[1] She then joined the large law firm of Williams & Connolly in Washington, D.C.[1]
In 1991, Durkan joined the law firm of Schroeter, Goldmark & Bender.[1] In September 1994, Durkan left the Schroeter law firm to join the staff of then-Washington Gov. Mike Lowry as his lawyer and political adviser.[3] In February of the following year, Durkan resigned and returned to the Schroeter law firm after allegations of sexual harassment against Lowry by one of his top aides, former press aide Susanne Albright.[3][4]
After rejoining the Schroeter law firm, Durkan became the lawyer for Washington Gov. Christine Gregoire.[5]
In 1997, Durkan set up her own firm, the Law Offices of Jenny Durkan.[2]
In May 2009, President Barack Obama nominated Durkan to be the U.S Attorney for the Western District of Washington, which covers 19 counties and is home to 4.6 million people (78% of the state's population).[6] She was unanimously confirmed by the United States Senate on September 29, 2009 and was sworn in on October 1 by Chief U.S. District Judge Robert S. Lasnik.[7][8]
A member of a prominent political family, Durkan has close ties to many of the state's leading Democrats, including Governor Christine Gregoire.[9] She is a daughter of Martin Durkan, a former member of the Washington State Senate who twice—in 1968 and 1972—was a candidate for Governor of Washington but lost both times in the Democratic primaries.[9][10]
Durkan is a lesbian. She and her partner, Dana Garvey, live in Seattle and have two sons.[9][11] She was the first openly gay U.S. Attorney and now serves as one of four, alongside Anne Tompkins of the Western District of North Carolina, Laura Duffy of the Southern District of California, and Robert L. Pitman of the Western District of Texas.[12]