Another Ninth Circuit district court vacancy has been filled with the confirmation of King County, Washington, Superior Court Judge Marsha Pechman to the bench on September 8, 1999. She will fill the position to be vacated by Judge William Dwyer, who is retiring as United States district judge for the Western District of Washington.

Senators Patty Murray (D-Wash.) and Slade Gorton (R-Wash.) in January picked Pechman with the help of a 12-member panel and sent her name to the White House for an FBI check. President Clinton nominated Judge Pechman on March 24.

Judge Pechman, 48, of Seattle, has served on the King County bench since 1988. Prior to that, she worked as a deputy prosecutor with the King County Prosecutor's office, as an associate and partner with Levinson, Friedman, Vhugen, Duggan, Bland and Horwitz, and as a law professor at the University of Puget Sound and the University of Washington.

Judge Pechman earned her undergraduate degree from Cornell University in 1973 and her law degree from Boston University in 1976.