The Hon.

Ajay

Krishnan

Ajay Krishnan is a federal magistrate judge in the Northern District of California. Prior to his appointment, he spent the bulk of his career at Keker, Van Nest & Peters, LLP, where he practiced for twenty years and served as a partner for the past fifteen. While there, he tried more than a dozen cases and handled a broad range of matters, including intellectual property disputes—spanning patent, copyright, trademark, and trade secret litigation—contract disputes, business torts, securities cases, class actions, and personal injury cases, among others. He also maintained a vigorous civil rights practice, representing clients in both individual and high-impact civil rights cases. He has litigated in both federal and state courts, before administrative agencies, and in arbitration. Prior to his time in private practice, he served as a lawyer at the ACLU of Northern California.

Judge Krishnan clerked for the Hon. Marsha Berzon at the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit. He received his bachelors degree in Electrical Engineering from Rice University. He received his J.D. from Harvard Law school.