Laura Taylor Swain

On May 5, 2017, Chief Justice John Roberts appointed Judge Swain to oversee the debt restructuring case in the Puerto Rican government-debt crisis.

The case reached closure in early 2009 when Swain entered a consent order stating, "The Defendant has announced to the Court that she is not a co-author of Hedge Fund Wives and has no authorship or co-authorship rights to the work. The Defendant agrees to release any registered or pending copyrights that she has relating to Hedge Fund Wives, and any domain names or other property relating to Hedge Fund Wives or the Plaintiff’s first novel, Gilding Lily."

On November 1, 1996, Swain became a United States Bankruptcy Judge for the Eastern District of New York. She served in that role until on April 25, 2000, President Clinton nominated Swain to be a United States District Judge of the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York to the seat vacated by Judge Thomas P. Griesa. She was confirmed by the United States Senate on June 16, 2000 and received her commission on July 11, 2000.

Swain also served as a member of the New York State Board of Law Examiners from 1986 to 1996. She chaired the advisory committee for the Federal Rules of Bankruptcy Procedure from 2007 to 2010.

Born in Brooklyn, New York, Swain earned an Artium Baccalaureus degree in 1979 from Radcliffe College. She earned a Juris Doctor from Harvard Law School in 1982. From 1982 until 1983, Swain worked as a law clerk for Judge Constance Baker Motley of the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York. From 1983 until 1996, Swain worked in private legal practice in New York City, practicing as an associate, and then counsel, in the areas of ERISA, employee benefits, executive compensation and employee law for the firm Debevoise & Plimpton.

Laura Taylor Swain (born November 21, 1958) is a United States District Judge of the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York.