The Honorable Christy Criswell Wiegand received her commission as a United States District Judge for the Western District of Pennsylvania on September 11, 2020.

Judge Wiegand was born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania in 1975.  She is a graduate of Princeton University (cum laude), where she was a member of the women’s varsity crew team.  She earned her J.D. from Cornell Law School (cum laude), where she served as an Articles Editor of the Cornell Law Review. 

During law school, Judge Wiegand was a judicial intern for the Honorable Donald E. Ziegler of the United States District Court for the Western District of Pennsylvania.  After graduation, she practiced antitrust law at Arnold & Porter in Washington, D.C. for two years.  Judge Wiegand then served as a law clerk to the Honorable D. Brooks Smith of the United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit.

For the next sixteen years, Judge Wiegand served as an Assistant United States Attorney for the Western District of Pennsylvania, in both the Civil and Criminal Divisions.  As a Civil Assistant United States Attorney, she represented the United States and its agencies in a wide array of civil litigation in federal court, and served as Deputy Chief of the Division.  In 2018, Judge Wiegand moved to the Criminal Division of the United States Attorney’s Office, where she prosecuted a variety of crimes, including large-scale drug trafficking, child exploitation, illegal firearm possession, and fraud. 

Judge Wiegand has been active in professional organizations, including as a member of the Allegheny County Bar Association Federal Court Section Council.

Judge Wiegand has also been active in the community, including serving on the boards of the Pittsburgh Parks Conservancy, the Three Rivers Rowing Association, and the Princeton University Rowing Association. 

Judge Wiegand is married to Jay Hammond and they have two children.