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Magistrate Judge Debra McVicker Lynch, a summa cum laude graduate of IU McKinney in 1986, has been named the Outstanding Alumna of the Year for 2016 by the law school’s Alumnae Network. She will be celebrated at a luncheon in her honor at Woodstock Country Club on June 24.

Judge Lynch was appointed U.S. Magistrate Judge on October 24, 2008. Prior to this, she was of counsel at the law firm then known as Sommer Barnard, now Taft Stettinius & Hollister, where she was of counsel from 1988 until her appointment. Her practice included litigation of contract disputes, business dissolutions, antitrust matters, securities fraud cases, professional malpractice actions, and non-competition and trade secret matters. Before joining the firm, Judge Lynch served as a law clerk to the Honorable Sarah Evans Barker from 1986 to 1988. Judge Barker will speak at the event.

While a student at IU McKinney, Judge Lynch served as editor-in-chief of the Indiana Law Review. She has served as an adjunct professor at the law school, teaching a course in complex litigation. She served as Special Master for Judge Sarah Evans Barker in the Bridgestone/Firestone Tires Products Liability Multidistrict Litigation from 2000 to 2004. She is an active member of the Local Rules Advisory Committee for the Southern District of Indiana and has served as a volunteer for the Heartland Pro Bono Council. Judge Lynch is a member of the Indiana State Bar Association, the Indianapolis Bar Association, the Seventh Circuit Bar Association, and is a Master Member of the Indianapolis American Inn of Court.

The Alumnae Network is a forum for women graduates of IU McKinney to connect with each other, current students, and the law school community. For more information about the network and the luncheon, visit the law school’s website.