About Patricia Wald
Patricia Ann McGowan Wald (; September 16, 1928 – January 12, 2019) was an American lawyer and jurist who served as the chief judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit from 1986 until 1991. She was the Court's first female chief judge and its first woman to be elevated, having been appointed by President Jimmy Carter in 1979. From 1999 to 2001, Wald was a Justice of the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia. Wald was born in Torrington, Connecticut, to a working-class family. After graduating from Connecticut College with distinction, a scholarship enabled her to study at Yale Law School, where she became one of two female editors of the Yale Law Journal. Wald sought a position at a white-shoe firm upon graduation but was turned down for being a woman. She began her legal career as a law clerk to Judge Jerome Frank instead, later entering the law firm of Arnold, Fortas & Porter as an associate attorney. After spending a year at the U.S. Department of Justice, Wald's tenure as a practicing lawyer included appointments on various presidential commissions and committees. In 1977, President Jimmy Carter appointed Wald as a U.S. Assistant Attorney General for the Office of Legislative Affairs. In 1979, Carter elevated her to the D.C. Circuit, where she received her commission as its first female member. During her time on the Court, Wald would pen more than 800 judicial opinions.
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