U.S. Magistrate Judge Elizabeth Laporte is set to retire in October 2019. Laporte, who first took the bench in 1998 and served as the Northern District of California’s chief magistrate judge from 2013 to 2015, helped shape patent and IP case law and advanced the court’s e-discovery procedures.

“I have been privileged to serve for 21 years on this Court, where I could not have asked for better colleagues,” Laporte said in a statement on the court’s website announcing her retirement plans. “The judges have generously mentored me and modeled their dedication to serving justice throughout my time on the bench.”