Paul Michael Warner, United States Magistrate Judge for the District of Utah

Paul Michael Warner is a United States Magistrate Judge for the District of Utah. He was appointed on February 18, 2006. He received his Bachelor of Arts degree in English from Brigham Young University in 1973. He graduated in the Charter Class of the J. Reuben Clark Law School at BYU in 1976. In 1984, he received a Masters degree in Public Administration from the Marriott School of Management at BYU.

Judge Warner served six years as a trial lawyer in the Judge Advocate General Corps of the United States Navy in San Diego, California, following graduation from law school. In 1982, he returned to Utah, working in the Utah Attorney General’s office for seven years where he served as Chief of the Litigation Division, and later as Associate Chief Deputy to the Attorney General. In 1989, he joined the United States Attorney’s Office for the District of Utah where he worked for 17 years. He served as First Assistant United States Attorney, interim United States Attorney, and Chief of the Criminal Division prior to his Presidential appointment as the United States Attorney.

Judge Warner was appointed United States Attorney for the District of Utah on July 29, 1998, by President Bill Clinton. He was retained and reappointed by President George W. Bush, and again confirmed by the U.S. Senate for a second term 4-year term on August 1, 2003. He also served two years as Chairman of the Attorney General’s Advisory Committee of United States Attorneys from 2001 to 2003, under Attorney General John Ashcroft. He also previously chaired the Advisory Committee’s subcommittee on Terrorism. After almost eight years of service, Judge Warner resigned as United States Attorney in February 2006 when he was appointed to the federal bench in Utah.

Judge Warner also served as a Colonel in the Judge Advocate General Branch of the Utah Army National Guard. His service culminated as the State Staff Judge Advocate. He is a past president of the Utah National Guard Association. He retired in September 2006 after 31 years of commissioned service. He is also an adjunct professor at the J. Reuben Clark Law School at BYU, where he currently teaches criminal trial practice.

Judge Warner has been involved in numerous professional organizations including the Federal Bar Association, serving as a Master of the Bench in the American Inns of Court, and was Chairman of the Board of Visitors for the J. Reuben Clark Law School at BYU. He is a frequent speaker and presenter at bar and community events.

Judge Warner is the recipient of numerous military and civilian professional awards. He received the NAACP Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Award for Civil Rights in 2008. He received the Utah National Guard Bronze Minuteman Award in 2007 for outstanding service to the state and nation. He was awarded the United States Army’s Legion of Merit in 2006 for his distinguished 31 year career of military service. He also has received the Army’s Meritorious Service Medal with two oak leaf clusters. He was inducted as a Fellow in the American College of Trial Lawyers in 2005. He was the 2004 Honored Alumni of the Year for the J. Reuben Clark Law School at BYU. He also has received the Utah State Bar’s 2004 Dorathy Merrill Brothers Award for the Advancement of Women in the Legal Profession, the Federal Bar Association’s Distinguished Career Service Award for 2003, and the NAACP’s 2002 Community Relations Award for Civil Rights.

Judge Warner is actively involved in his church and other community affairs. He is married to the former Linda Poole, and they have four children and five grandchildren.