The Senate confirmed Rosanna Malouf Peterson to the District Court for the Eastern District of Washington, making her the first woman to take the bench in the district. Peterson is a graduate of the Univ. of North Dakota School of Law and clerked for Hon. Fred Van Sickle from 1991-93. She was in private practice with several firms in Spokane, Washington from 1993 to 2002. Peterson had a solo practice from 2003 to 2009, while serving as the director of the externship program at Gonzaga Law School, where she has been a professor since 1999. She has represented a wide range of clients, including corporate clients with commercial matters and professionals with licensing and employment issues. As a Criminal Justice Act attorney, she has represented indigent criminal defendants in federal and state courts. Peterson is a former President of the Federal Bar Association of Eastern Washington and of the Washington Women Lawyers Bar Association.