WHAT: Investiture of Kathryn Oberly 
 
WHERE: Historic Courthouse – 430 E Street, NW, Washington, DC 
 
WHEN: Friday, May 8 at 4:30 pm 
 
WHO:  Chief Judge Eric T. Washington; Judge Kathryn Oberly 
 
Biography:  Judge Oberly was born in Chicago, Illinois, and raised in the Chicago suburb of Park Ridge. She attended Vassar College from 1967 to 1969 and, after transferring to the University of Wisconsin, earned her B.A. in Political Science (with Honors) in 1971. In 1973, she received her law degree cum laude from the University of Wisconsin Law School, where she was Articles Editor of the Wisconsin Law Review.  Upon graduation from law school, Judge Oberly served as a law clerk to the late Honorable Donald P.

Lay of the United States Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit.  After her clerkship, Judge Oberly moved to the District of Columbia, where she served as an appellate lawyer in the Land and Natural Resources Division of the US Department of Justice and then as an Assistant to the Solicitor General of the United States. In that capacity, she briefed and argued cases in the Supreme Court of the United States.  Judge Oberly entered private practice in 1986 as a partner in the Washington, DC office of Mayer, Brown & Platt. She was one of the founding members of the firm’s Washington-based appellate practice. While at Mayer, Brown, Judge Oberly’s clients included a number of major accounting firms, including Ernst & Young.

In 1991, Judge Oberly joined Ernst & Young’s Washington office as an Associate General Counsel, in charge of the firm’s appellate and special litigation. In 1994, Judge Oberly was appointed Vice Chair and General Counsel of Ernst & Young, a post she held until her appointment to the District of Columbia Court of Appeals. As General Counsel, Judge Oberly was responsible for all of Ernst & Young’s litigation, and she also supervised the handling of the firm’s transactional legal work and advised on legislative, regulatory and public policy issues affecting the firm. In addition to serving as General Counsel, Judge Oberly was a member of the firm’s Americas Executive Board.  Among other civic and professional activities, Judge Oberly is a member of the Council of the American Law Institute.

From 1991-1994, Judge Oberly served as Vice Chair of the Sheridan School Board of Trustees in Washington, DC. Judge Oberly is married to author and Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Haynes Johnson, and she is the mother of one son.