Throughout her distinguished career, Judge Nancy Gertner has not been afraid to speak up and to reach for the extraordinary in order to effectively promote fairness and justice. Please join us to hear about Judge Gertner’s role as a woman’s advocate and her path to leadership and the lessons that it offers.

After more than two decades as a criminal defense lawyer and civil rights activist, in April of l994 Judge Gertner was appointed by President William J. Clinton to the United States District Court for the District of Massachusetts.  In September of 2011, Judge Gertner retired the federal bench and become part of the faculty of the Harvard Law School teaching criminal law, criminal procedure, forensic science and sentencing.

Judge Gertner is a graduate of Barnard College and Yale Law School where she was an editor on The Yale Law Journal, and has a Yale M.A. in Political Science. Her autobiography, In Defense of Women: Memoirs of an Unrepentant Advocate, was released on April 26, 2011 and she has published articles, and chapters on sentencing, discrimination, and forensic evidence, women's rights, and the jury system. Her accomplishments have been recognized by numerous organizations and academic institutions and she has been profiled in the Boston Globe, the Boston Herald, the ABA Journal, Boston Magazine, and The Wall Street Journal. In July, 2012, she will receive the Arabella Bab Mansfield Award from the National Association of Women Judges.

Throughout her career, Judge Gertner has found time to teach at law schools throughout the Boston area and the Yale Law School. She has lectured both nationally and internationally, most recently at the Monash Law School International Study Program in Prato, Italy. She also has participated in international programs teaching women’s rights and human rights, as well as critical issues involving the judicial system.