District of Idaho

Chief District Judge David C. Nye was sworn in as a United States District Judge for the District of Idaho on August 1, 2017, after having been nominated by both President Barack Obama and President Donald Trump. Judge Nye was the first Article III judge to be sworn into office in Idaho in over twenty years. In 2007, Judge Nye was appointed by Idaho Governor Otter to serve as a District Judge for the State of Idaho. He served in that capacity from 2007 to 2017, and served as Administrative District Judge for the Sixth Judicial District from 2009 to 2012. Prior to serving as a judge, he practiced law in Pocatello, Idaho from 1987 to 2007. He also served as a law clerk to Judge George G. Granata from 1986 to 1987. He graduated from Brigham Young University in 1982 and from Brigham Young University, J. Reuben Clark Law School in 1986.

District Judge Amanda K. Brailsford was appointed a United States District Judge for the District of Idaho by President Joseph R. Biden, Jr., on May 17, 2023, and entered duty on May 18, 2023.  She graduated from the University of Idaho in 1989 and from the University of Idaho College of Law in 1993.  From 1993 to 1995, Judge Brailsford clerked for the Honorable Thomas G. Nelson of the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals.  From 1995 to 2018, she practiced law in Boise, Idaho.  In 2019, Idaho Governor Otter appointed her to the Idaho Court of Appeals where she served until May 2023.

Senior District Judge B. Lynn Winmill was appointed a United States District Judge for the District of Idaho by President William J. Clinton on August 14, 1995, and entered duty on August 16, 1995. He graduated from Idaho State University in 1974 and from Harvard Law School in 1977. Upon graduation, he practiced law in Denver, Colorado, from 1977-1979, and in Pocatello, Idaho, from 1979 to 1987. Judge Winmill was then appointed as a district judge for the Sixth Judicial District of the State of Idaho in 1987, and served as Administrative District Judge for the Sixth Judicial District from 1992 to 1995.  He served as Chairman of the Idaho Evidence Rules Advisory Committee from 1992 to 1995.

Judge Winmill actively supports legal education, having taught courses in criminal procedure and legal history as an adjunct professor at Idaho State University from 1991 to 1995. He has also served for several years as adjunct faculty for the University of Idaho School of Law, teaching a course in Complex Civil Litigation. Judge Winmill participated in the creation of the Idaho Legal History Society and the Idaho Chapter of the Federal Bar Association. He continues to support both of those programs. 

Judge Winmill has been actively involved in judicial education.  He has served as a mentor judge at the Federal Judicial Center’s training program for new District Judges.  He has served as an instructor at judicial education programs on the management of complex litigation, trial practice, general case management and judicial use of technology. He has also been involved in training judges and prosecutors from other countries, including Jordan, Afghanistan, the United Arab Emirates, Thailand, Russia, and Indonesia. 

Since July of 1999, Judge Winmill has served as Chief Judge for the District of Idaho. In addition to those duties, Judge Winmill previously served on the Information Technology Committee for the Judicial Conference of the United States, and has also served as Chair of the Ninth Circuit Information Technology Committee. He previously chaired the Ninth Circuit Conference of Chief District Judges, and is a past President of the Ninth  Circuit District Judges Association.  He currently serves on the Judicial Council of the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals, and on the national board of the Federal Judges Association.

Judge Raymond E. Patricco began his appointment as United States Magistrate Judge on June 11, 2021.  Prior to being appointed to the bench, Judge Patricco was a federal prosecutor for 21 years.  From 2011 to 2021, Judge Patricco was an Assistant United States Attorney, Senior Litigation Counsel, and Acting Criminal Chief at the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Idaho.  From 2000 to 2011, he was an Assistant United States Attorney, Deputy Criminal Chief, Chief of the Financial Crimes Unit, and Chief of the Narcotics Unit at the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Virginia. 

From 1996 to 2000, Judge Patricco was a criminal defense attorney and civil litigator at the law firm of Steptoe & Johnson LLC in Washington, D.C.  There, he primarily represented clients in white-collar fraud cases, government contract disputes, and insurance defense litigation.  Before working at Steptoe, Judge Patricco was a law clerk to the Honorable John P. Wiese of the United States Court of Federal Claims.

Judge Patricco graduated cum laude from Harvard University and received his law degree from the University of Virginia School of Law.  He is a member of the bars of Idaho, the District of Columbia, and Maryland. 

Judge Patricco is actively involved in legal education.  He has guest-lectured at the University of Idaho College of Law (National Security Law and White Collar Crime), has presented at the Idaho Trial Skills Academy, and has taught trial advocacy at the Department of Justice’s National Advocacy Center.  He also is a member of the Idaho Chapter of the Federal Bar Association.

Judge Debora K. Grasham began her appointment as United States Magistrate Judge on April 1, 2022.  Prior to being appointed to the bench, Judge Grasham was a partner at Givens Pursley, LLP in Boise, Idaho for more than 22 years.  There, she represented a variety of clients in commercial litigation and employment matters, and specialized in first amendment, privacy, and media law.  Prior to joining Givens Pursley, LLP,  Judge Grasham practiced at Davis Wright Tremaine, LLP in Boise, Idaho and Seattle, Washington from 1990 to 1999.

Judge Grasham has long worked on behalf of the federal courts, including as a Lawyer Representative for the District of Idaho and as a member of the Ninth Circuit’s Lawyer Representatives Coordinating Committee, Advisory Board and Public Information and Community Outreach Committee.  She is the former President of the Idaho State Bar, President of the Richard C. Fields American Inns of Court, and frequent mentor at the Idaho Trial Skills Academy.  Judge Grasham is also the former Chair of the Ninth Judicial Circuit Historical Society and President of the Idaho Legal History Society, and has written extensively on the early women lawyers of Idaho.  In 2021, she received the Idaho State Bar’s highest honor, the Distinguished Lawyer Award, recognizing her “exemplary conduct and many years of dedicated service to the profession and to Idaho citizens,” and is the recipient of the 2005 Kate Feltham Award from the Idaho Women Lawyers.  Judge Grasham is a member of the Idaho Chapter of the Federal Bar Association, and recipient of its Exemplary Service Award in 2011.

Judge Grasham graduated from the University of California, Berkeley, and received her law degree from Santa Clara University School of Law, where she served as Editor-in-Chief of the Law Review.

Magistrate Judge Candy Wagahoff Dale began extended recall service on April 1, 2022. She was first appointed as a United States Magistrate Judge on March 30, 2008. She served as Chief Magistrate Judge from October of 2008 through September of 2015, and from June 11, 2021, through March 31, 2022. She was appointed by Chief Justice John Roberts to serve a two-year term as the Magistrate Judge Observer to the Judicial Conference of the United States, and served in that capacity from October 2017 through September 2019. Judge Dale is a past member of the Fairness Committee, the Workplace Environment Committee, and the Jury Trial Improvement Committee, and a past Chair of the Magistrate Judges Executive Board for the Ninth Circuit.

Judge Dale is a member of the Federal Bar Association and a member of the Idaho Legal History Society. She is an Emeritus member of the Richard C. Fields American Inn of Court, where she previously served as President; an Emeritus member of the Advisory Council for the University of Idaho College of Law; and a member of the Board of Trustees of the College of Idaho, where she served as Chair of the Board from 2012 – 2014. Judge Dale was awarded the Honorary Degree of Doctor of Laws, LL.D., from the College of Idaho in May 2017. She received the 2022 Distinguished Jurist Award from the Idaho State Bar, the 2016 Faculty Award of Legal Merit from the University of Idaho College of Law, the 2014 Justice for All Award from the Diversity Section of the Idaho State Bar, and the 2010 Kate Feltham Award from the Idaho Women Lawyers.

A native of Boise, Judge Dale obtained a Bachelor of Science degree, with honors and as a Gipson Scholar, from the College of Idaho in 1979, and a Juris Doctorate from the University of Idaho College of Law in 1982, where she served as Editor-in-Chief of the Idaho Law Review.  Before her appointment to the federal bench, she was a trial lawyer for over 25 years in Idaho and a member of numerous professional and community organizations.

Chief Bankruptcy Judge Joseph M. Meier received his B.A. in 1981 from the University of Oregon and his J.D. in 1984 from Willamette University School of Law, where he was a staff member of the Willamette Law Review. 

Judge Meier was appointed to the bench in 2018.  Prior to his appointment, he practiced in the areas of bankruptcy, commercial, real property and business law and has represented creditors, debtors, committees and trustees in chapters 7, 11, 12 and 13 proceedings. He represented lenders and borrowers in complex loan restructures and commercial litigation.

Judge Meier was director of the Commercial and Bankruptcy Law Section of the Idaho State Bar from 1995 to 2001 and has been a frequent speaker and moderator on bankruptcy issues at events sponsored by the state bar. He was a Ninth Circuit lawyer representative for the District of Idaho from 2002 to 2005 and sat on the circuit’s Lawyer Representative Coordinating Committee from 2006 to 2008, serving as chair from 2007 to 2008.

In 2017, Judge Meier was the recipient of the Idaho State Bar's Professionalism Award. He was selected as an American College of Bankruptcy fellow in 2005 and has been recognized in Rocky Mountain States Super Lawyers and Best Lawyers since 2004.

The Honorable Noah G. Hillen was appointed as a United States Bankruptcy Judge by the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals, commencing service on August 31, 2020.  Judge Hillen was appointed as the Chief Bankruptcy Judge on November 28, 2023.

Judge Hillen graduated from the College of Idaho in 2004 and the University of Idaho College of Law in 2007.  After law school, he served as a law clerk to Justice Joel D. Horton of the Idaho Supreme Court.

From 2010 to 2014, Judge Hillen practiced commercial litigation and bankruptcy law in Boise, Idaho, primarily representing creditors and trustees in chapters 7, 11, 12, and 13 proceedings.  He frequently represented financial institutions in complex commercial litigation and workout agreements.  From 2014 to 2020, he served as a chapter 7 panel trustee for the District of Idaho.