Chief Judge James E. Boasberg

James E. “Jeb” Boasberg. Chief Judge of the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia. He was originally appointed to the District Court in March 2011.

Chief Judge Boasberg is a native Washingtonian, having graduated from St. Albans School in 1981. He received a B.A., magna cum laude, in History in 1985 from Yale College. Chief Judge Boasberg then received an M.St. in Modern European History from Oxford University in 1986 and a J.D. from Yale Law School in 1990.

U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia

Chief Judge Boasberg next served as a law clerk to Judge Dorothy W. Nelson on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit. Following his clerkship, he was a litigation associate at Keker & Van Nest in San Francisco from 1991 to 1994 and at Kellogg, Huber, Hansen, Todd & Evans in Washington from 1995 to 1996.

In 1996 Chief Judge Boasberg joined the United States Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia as an Assistant United States Attorney, where he served for 5½ years and specialized in homicide prosecutions.

In September 2002, Chief Judge Boasberg became an Associate Judge of the District of Columbia Superior Court, where he served in the Civil and Criminal Divisions and the Domestic Violence Branch until his appointment to the federal bench in 2011.

Chief Judge Boasberg also served a seven-year term on the United States Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court beginning in May 2014.  Appointed by Chief Justice John Roberts, he was the Court’s Presiding Judge from January 2020 to May 2021. 

He is currently the President of the Edward Bennett Williams Inn of Court and a member of the Yale University Council. He is also the past Chair of the Governing Board of St. Albans School.

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75-Word Summary:
James E. Boasberg, Chief Judge of the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, is a distinguished jurist with decades of impactful legal service. A Yale and Oxford graduate, he has presided over landmark cases in corporate law, environmental law, and constitutional law. Known for his fairness and strict adherence to legal principles, Boasberg has shaped modern jurisprudence through thoughtful rulings and judicial restraint. His career exemplifies commitment to justice, earning widespread respect in the legal community.