It’s easy for any observer to think that Lynne Battaglia has already done it all. But, should you talk with her, you’ll quickly find out that she’s hard at work and contemplating the next steps in her stellar career.
The Buffalo native’s ascent began with receiving her B.A. in 1967 and her M.A. in 1968, on both occasions from American University. After having been awarded an NDEA Title IV Fellowship, Battaglia entered Georgetown University in 1968 to embark on doctoral studies in American Government.
However, with the time to start writing her doctoral thesis quickly approaching, Battaglia shifted gears, instead opting to enter the University of Maryland Law School. She received her Juris Doctor degree in 1974, graduating Order of the Coif and serving as articles editor of the Law Review en route; she continues to teach at the school, as well as at the University of Baltimore Law School, as an adjunct faculty member.
Her legal career began in 1974 with a stint at the Baltimore law firm of Semmes, Bowen & Semmes. By 1978, she was recruited to serve as an assistant United States attorney for the District of Maryland, where she spent the next four years. In 1984, Battaglia became senior trial attorney within the Office of Special Litigation in the Department of Justice.
It was in 1988 that she was chosen by Maryland Attorney General Joseph Curran to become the chief of the Criminal Investigations Division; within three years she was recruited to a position that she never expected to hold — chief of staff to U.S. Sen. Barbara Mikulski.
Her next stop was the result of an appointment by President Clinton (which was confirmed by the United States Senate) to serve as United States Attorney for the District of Maryland, thus becoming the first woman to hold the position. She served in that post from August 1993 to January 2001.
Today, Battaglia serves as a Maryland Court of Appeals Judge from the Third Appellate Circuit, which includes Howard County. Nominated by then Gov. Parris Glendening, she was sworn in on Jan. 26, 2001.
She has received numerous honors and awards during her career. Most recently, Battaglia was the recipient of the Rita Davidson Award from the Women’s Bar Association. She also frequently contributes to her profession as a leader and mentor, having served on and chaired numerous committees and boards. On that note, she currently serves as chair of the Professionalism Commission, the Long Range Planning Committee of the Maryland State Bar Association and the Women Lawyers in Maryland Project.
In November 2007, Battaglia was elected to membership in The American Law Institute, an elite group consisting of judges, practicing lawyers and legal scholars who are selected for membership on the basis of professional achievement and demonstrated interest in the improvement of the law.
You’ve recently published an article through the University of Baltimore Law Forum entitled, “Where is Justice? An Exploration of Beginnings.” What motivated you to address that topic at this point in your career?
It’s meant to be a tangible reflection of the work that has already been undertaken and to serve as a template for the upcoming Finding Justice book. The article was meant to begin the exploration of some of the highlights of the contributions of women lawyers in Maryland, including women attorneys in fact in Colonial Maryland as exemplified by Margaret Brent [the first woman in the English North American colonies to appear before a court of the Common Law and a significant founding settler in Maryland and Virginia].
We also want to find out what motivated women to overcome obstacles to their admission to the bar, as well as more about ethnic and social contributions of women who achieved the status of attorneys in the state.
I have been engaged in this endeavor because I feel fortunate about my career and professional development, not only due to my judgeship, but also because I teach. And I have truly loved being a lawyer.
My hope is that the article will inspire women, and men as well. It’s interesting to see how people find the opportunities and take advantage of them — sometimes in the face of great obstacles.
You also recently helped spearhead “Women Pioneers,” a program at the Music Center at Strathmore in Bethesda, to encourage women to enter the legal field in Maryland. What was the genesis of that project?
The book project came about because of an event I attended that honored African-American lawyers in Maryland. It was there that I began wondering about the history of women lawyers in the state; I didn’t know about that history, really, and asked the people around me that evening if they knew very much about that topic. They didn’t, either.
At that point, I asked Andrea Leahy-Fucheck [managing member of Leahy & DeSmet and a former chief counsel to Maryland Gov. Parris Glendening], who knows many women in the legal profession and had been involved in an earlier book project with Francie Glendening, to work with me on the book project. She shared my enthusiasm and the project was born. We now have a group of writers working Finding Justice; the concert was Andrea’s vision and her great achievement.
Interestingly, my graduation year from the University of Maryland School of Law, 1974, proved to be a turning point for woman lawyers in Maryland. More women were admitted to the bar in that year than have been before or since.
Women in the law are still confronting challenges, such as how to juggle their personal and professional lives, how to pierce the glass ceilings and achieve wage parity, as well as how to achieve membership on boards of directors.
As a woman entering a field dominated by men, what was your experience in law school?
There were very few women enrolled, perhaps a dozen in my graduating class. But I was fortunate, because the University of Maryland Class of 1974 also included future leaders like Frank Burch of DLA Piper and Paige Marvel, who is a judge on the United States Tax Court.
We had a bright, ambitious class that graduated at the end of the Vietnam War and the height of the Women’s Movement, and those synergies led to the enthusiasm to become a lawyer.
What were your goals during the early days of your career?
I had just finished a doctoral fellowship at Georgetown and was accepted into a large law firm, so all I wanted to do was make some money. So I went to Semmes, Bowen & Semmes and started working in estates and trusts, then commercial litigation. I was the only female lawyer in the office.
It was a challenge, but I enjoyed it. I can tell you that having had two brothers was a help there. Many of my colleagues there are close friends. I had great mentors like Norman Ramsey, who was a federal business court judge, and Tommy Waxter, who became a Baltimore City Circuit Court judge.
What have the toughest decisions you’ve had to make from behind the bench concerned thus far?
The most challenging decisions involve the death penalty and state redistricting, which we last oversaw in 2001. We seven judges [on the Court of Appeals] ended up declaring the plan unconstitutional under the state constitution. Then, due to a tight timeframe, we judges drew the new lines.
What led you toward the judgeship? Was that a career goal?
No. I was very fortunate to have great jobs, then I received my appointment from President Clinton. When that ended, [then- Governor] Parris [Glendening] felt that I should be able to serve on the court of appeals. I didn’t aspire to be a judge, but I did want to be the best at whatever I did.
What do you feel has been the highlight of your career thus far?
I think that my career path has presented me with some fantastic opportunities, most notably my stint with Sen. Barbara Mikulski. Being chief of staff to Sen. Mikulski was something that I could have never even thought of when I was in law school. It was so outside of anything that I’d done.
What do you still want to do that you haven’t done yet?
I haven’t explored whether there is any path for me in the academic world. I also haven’t explored the political realm.
Is the word retirement in your vocabulary?
No. Retirement, as our parents knew it, is no longer offered as the same concept anyway. To them, it was the beginning of a second life; but for a baby boomer, it’s the start of new personal and professional experiences.
