Ninth Circuit Appoints Cara Masako Porter as Bankruptcy Judge for the Northern District of California

N E W S   R E L E A S E

Aug. 14, 2026
Contact: Katherine Rodriguez
mediarelease@ce9.uscourts.gov

 

SAN FRANCISCO — Judges of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit have appointed Cara Masako Porter as a bankruptcy judge on the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Northern District of California. She is the first Japanese Korean American appointed to the court. Her 14-year term began Thursday, August 13, when Chief Bankruptcy Judge Stephen L. Johnson of the Northern District of California administered the oath of office. Judge Porter maintains her chambers in Oakland.

“The bankruptcy court is excited to welcome Judge Porter. She brings a wealth of experience, deep knowledge and is a longtime member of the court family. She exhibits the ability to develop creative solutions and is a strong consensus builder. We know the bar will be well pleased with our new judge. The bankruptcy court thanks the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals and the members of the Merit Screening Panel for their efforts,” said Judge Johnson.

“I am honored to join the bankruptcy bench of the Northern District of California and grateful for the confidence placed in me. I look forward to bringing my passion for bankruptcy law to the Court and continuing the tradition of public service I came to know as a bankruptcy law clerk and throughout my career. I am especially humbled to serve as the District’s first bankruptcy judge of color and look forward to serving the Court, the bar, and the public,” said Judge Porter.

Before her appointment to the bench, Judge Porter was attorney then lead attorney from 2024 to 2026 in the General Counsel Unit in the Litigation Bureau at the California Franchise Tax Board, where she provided advice on the most complex and sensitive issues, policies, practices and programs at FTB. Prior to that, she was deputy county counsel in the Office of the Marin County Counsel in San Rafael, California, from 2023 to 2024. From 2017 to 2022, Judge Porter served as an attorney for the California Department of Justice, Office of the Attorney General, in San Francisco, where she represented the state’s business and taxing authorities in bankruptcy matters as well as general civil litigation in federal and state trial and appellate courts. From 2010 to 2017, she clerked for the Honorable Alan Jaroslovsky of the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Northern District of California.

Judge Porter has been a member of the Asian American Bar Association of the Greater Bay Area, the Bay Area Bankruptcy Forum, the Federal Bar Association, the International Women’s Insolvency & Restructuring Confederation, the Korean American Bar Association of Northern California, the National Association of Attorneys General, and the States Association of Bankruptcy Attorneys. Judge Porter was a member of the Bench-Bar Liaison Committee of the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Northern District of California from 2020 to 2023.

Judge Porter graduated with a Bachelor of Arts from the University of California, Berkeley, in 2001 and earned her Juris Doctor in 2009 from Golden Gate University School of Law, where she was Merit Scholar from 2005 to 2006.

The U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Northern District of California reported 6,478 bankruptcy filings in calendar year 2025, up 8.6% from CY 2024. The court is authorized nine permanent judgeships.

Judges of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit have statutory responsibility for selecting and appointing bankruptcy judges in the nine western states that comprise the 9th Circuit. The court uses a comprehensive merit selection process for the initial appointment and for reappointments. Bankruptcy judges serve a 14-year renewable term and handle all bankruptcy-related matters under the U.S. Bankruptcy Code.