Judge Spaulding was appointed United States Magistrate Judge for the United States District Court, Middle District of Florida, Orlando Division in December 1997. She received a B.A., magna cum laude, from Western Michigan University in 1975, and a J.D. from the Northwestern University School of Law in 1980. While in law school, she served as Executive Editor of the JOURNAL OF CRIMINAL LAW AND CRIMINOLOGY. From 1983 through 1993, Judge Spaulding was an Assistant United States Attorney, serving as Chief of the Drug Trafficking Section and, later, Chief of the Appellate Division in the United States Attorney’s Office in the Middle District of Florida, and Chief of the Fraud Section in the United States Attorney’s Office in the Southern District of Texas. From 1980 to 1983, and 1994 through 1997, Judge Spaulding was a trial and appellate lawyer in private practice. She represented plaintiffs in class actions and intellectual property matters and represented defendants in civil and criminal matters.