United States Magistrate Judge christopher d. baker (cdb)

Federal Judicial Service:

United States District Court, Eastern District of California

United States Magistrate Judge, appointed October 3, 2022

Education:

U.S. Naval Academy, B.S., Political Science: 1994
U.C.L.A. School of Law, J.D.: 2004
National Intelligence University, M.S., Strategic Intelligence: 2013



Professional Career:

2020-2022
Assistant U.S. Attorney, U.S. Dept. of Justice, U.S. Attorney’s Office, Eastern District of California, Bakersfield Division
 
2019-2020
First Assistant U.S. Attorney, U.S. Dept. of Justice, U.S. Attorney’s Office, District of Nevada
 
2012-2019
Assistant U.S. Attorney, U.S. Dept. of Justice, U.S. Attorney’s Office, Eastern District of California, Fresno Division
 
2008-2012
Attorney Advisor, U.S. Dept. of Justice, National Security Division – Office of Intelligence
 
2004-2008
Associate Attorney, Kaye Scholer LLP, New York, NY
 
1994-2001
Infantry Officer, U.S. Marine Corps
 
 


Biography:

Christopher D. Baker was appointed to be U.S. Magistrate Judge for the Bakersfield Division of the Eastern District of California on October 3, 2022. Judge Baker sits in the U.S. District Court in Bakersfield and presides over criminal matters arising on federal lands and civil matters arising in the Bakersfield Division of the Eastern District of California. He conducts settlement conferences in all types of cases.
 
Judge Baker has over eighteen years of legal experience in both the public and private sectors. During his fourteen years of service with the Department of Justice, Judge Baker served as an Assistant U.S. Attorney in the U.S. Attorney’s Office - Eastern District of California (Bakersfield and Fresno offices), as First Assistant U.S. Attorney in the U.S. Attorney’s Office – District of Nevada, and as Attorney Advisor in the National Security Division. Judge Baker’s service in the Department of Justice included tours of duty in Iraq and Afghanistan where he worked with his international counterparts to support those countries’ rule of law capacity building efforts. Prior to joining the Department of Justice, he worked for four years at a private law firm in New York where he specialized in all aspects of complex civil litigation, including cases involving individual and class action consumer fraud, products liability, intellectual property and contract disputes. Judge Baker served for seven years in the U.S. Marine Corps as an infantry officer. Judge Baker completed his undergraduate education at the U.S. Naval Academy, a Master of Science degree at the National Intelligence University, and obtained his law degree from UCLA School of Law.