Judge Bencivengo was appointed to the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of California by President Barack Obama, and confirmed on February 10, 2012. Prior to her confirmation, she served as a U.S. Magistrate Judge for the Southern District since December, 2005. Judge Bencivengo was a participant in the Southern District’s Patent Pilot Program and is a member of the District’s Criminal Justice Act Advisory Committee.

Before joining the bench, Judge Bencivengo was a partner with the law firm of DLA Piper LLP (formerly Gray, Cary), where she specialized in intellectual property litigation and was National Co-Chair of the firm’s Patent Litigation Practice Group. As a patent litigator, Judge Bencivengo represented both plaintiffs and defendants in a variety of technologies, including computer hardware and software, chemistry, immunology, semiconductor chip manufacturing, medical devices and consumer products. She was also the lead trademark and copyright litigation
counsel for Dr. Seuss Enterprises, LLP.

Judge Bencivengo attended Rutgers University in New Jersey, earning a B.A. in journalism and political science and an M.A. in political science as a Fellow at the Eagleton Institute of Politics. She received her J.D. from the University of Michigan Law School, magna cum laude.

Judge Bencivengo is a Master in the J. Clifford Wallace Chapter and the Louis M. Welsh Chapter of the American Inns of Court. She recently completed her term as Chair of the Ninth Circuit Education Committee. She is currently serving as the Vice President of the Ninth Circuit District Judges Association and as a Judicial Advisor for the San Diego Chapter of the Federal Bar Association and the Sedona Conference.