Biography
Judge Kessler was appointed to the United States District Court for the District of Columbia in July 1994. She received a B.A. from Cornell University and an LL.B. from Harvard Law School. Following graduation, Judge Kessler was employed by the National Labor Relations Board, served as Legislative Assistant to a U.S. Senator and a U.S. Congressman, worked for the New York City Board of Education, and then opened a public interest law firm. In June 1977, she was appointed Associate Judge of the Superior Court of the District of Columbia. From 1981 to 1985, Judge Kessler served as Presiding Judge of the Family Division and was a major architect of one of the nation's first Multi-Door Courthouses. She served as President of the National Association of Women Judges from 1983 to 1984, served on the Executive Committee and as vice president of the ABA's Conference of Federal Trial Judges, and on the U.S. Judicial Conference's Committee on Court Administration and Management for six years. Judge Kessler currently co-chairs the Committee of the National Academy of Sciences on the Development of the Third Edition of the Reference Manual on Scientific Evidence of the Federal Judicial Center. She has been vice-chairperson of the District of Columbia Commission on Judicial Disabilities and Tenure, and currently serves as Chair of the Commission.
Related Articles:
Richard Sandomir, Gladys Kessler, Judge Who Curbed Deceptive Tobacco Ads, Dies at 85, The New York Times (March 27, 2023), https://www.nytimes.com/2023/03/27/us/gladys-kessler-dead.html, [https://perma.cc/S553-VB45].
Emily Langer, Gladys Kessler, federal judge in landmark tobacco lawsuit, dies at 85, The Washington Post (March 22, 2023), https://www.washingtonpost.com/obituaries/2023/03/22/gladys-kessler-tobacco-judge-dead/ [https://perma.cc/6XNM-H2LQ].
Hon. Gladys Kessler, A.B.A.: Previous Margaret Brent Women Law. Achievement Award Recipients, https://perma.cc/6JVR-E76V.
