County IN BRIEF : LOS ANGELES : New U.S. Attorney Baird Is Sworn In

Before judges, prosecutors and lawyers assembled in a courtroom of the federal courthouse in Los Angeles, the new U.S. attorney for the Central District of California, Lourdes G. Baird, was officially sworn into office on Thursday. Baird, 55, a native of Ecuador and a former Los Angeles County Superior Court judge, was nominated by President Bush last May to replace U.S. Atty. Robert C. Bonner. Taking into account Baird’s Latino background and the fact that Southern California is an ethnic melting pot with a large Latino population, her former law partner, Molly Munger, said that “Lourdes is symbolic of Los Angeles.” Baird, who raised a family before pursuing a legal career, gave credit to other women in her profession. “I clearly got here hanging on to the skirts of my predecessors,” she said.