Diana Gribbon Motz

Diana Motz
Judge of the Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit
Incumbent
Assumed office June 16, 1994
Nominated by	Bill Clinton
Preceded by	Seat established
Personal details
Born	July 15, 1943 (1943-07-15) (age 68) Washington, D.C., United States
Political party	Democratic Party
Spouse(s)	Frederick Motz
Alma mater	Vassar College University of Virginia

Diana Jane Gribbon Motz (born July 15, 1943) is a federal judge on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit.

Early life and education

Born in Washington, D.C., Motz^[1] was reared in a legal family. Her father was the renowned litigator Daniel J. Gribbon. She earned a bachelor's degree from Vassar College in 1965 and a law degree from the University of Virginia School of Law in 1968.^[2] She was one of only two women in her law school class, she told the Baltimore Sun in an article that ran on July 22, 1994.

Professional career

Motz worked in private law practice in Baltimore for the firm Piper & Marbury (now DLA Piper) from 1968 until 1971. She became the assistant state attorney general for the state of Maryland in 1972, and served in that capacity until 1986, when she returned to private practice. In 1991, Motz returned to the public sector, becoming an associate judge for the Court of Special Appeals of Maryland. She worked in that court until her confirmation as a federal appeals court judge in 1994.

While assistant state attorney general for Maryland, Motz famously won a $268,482 judgment against former Vice President Spiro Agnew to recover money he accepted as bribes while he was Maryland's governor.

Federal judicial service

On January 27, 1994, President Clinton nominated Motz to a newly created seat on the Fourth Circuit. She was unanimously confirmed by the U.S. Senate in a voice vote on June 15, 1994, becoming the first woman from Maryland ever to sit on the Fourth Circuit. Motz's husband, J. Frederick Motz, had been appointed a federal district court judge by President Ronald Reagan in 1985, making the Motzes the first married couple to sit on the federal bench. "Yes, it's true: He's a Republican. It's his only flaw," Motz quipped to the Los Angeles Times in an article that appeared on November 16, 1994.^[3]

References

1. ^ http://www.msa.md.gov/msa/mdmanual/39fed/01usa/html/msa12028.html
2. ^ http://www.fjc.gov/servlet/tGetInfo?jid=1705
3. ^ http://pqasb.pqarchiver.com/latimes/access/59566577.html?dids=59566577:59566577&FMT=ABS&FMTS=ABS:FT&type=current&date=Nov+16%2C+1994&author=DAVID+G.+SAVAGE%3BRONALD+J.+OSTROW&pub=Los+Angeles+Times+(pre-1997+Fulltext)&edition=&startpage=5&desc=THE+JUDICIARY+Clinton%27s+Big+Bench%3A+Judges+of+All+Stripes+and+Colors+Appointed+Blacks%2C+Latinos%2C+women%2C+even+Republicans+fill+federal+vacancies.+It+is+the+most+diverse+group+named+by+any+President.

External links

• Diana Gribbon Motz at the Biographical Directory of Federal Judges, a public domain publication of the Federal Judicial Center.

Legal offices
New seat	Judge of the Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit 1994–present	Incumbent

Persondata
Name	Motz, Diana Jane Gribbon
Alternative names
Short description
Date of birth	July 15, 1943
Place of birth	Washington, D.C.
Date of death
Place of death