University of Wisconsin Law School alumna Kathryn Oberly ‘73 has become the newest judge on the District of Columbia Court of Appeals, taking her oath of office on January 19 in time to administer the oath of office on January 21 to Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton, a friend since childhood. 

Oberly, leaves a longtime career at Ernst & Young, where she rose to the positions of vice chair and general counsel.

Hillary Rodham Clinton and Oberly have been friends since their childhood together in the Chicago suburb of Park Ridge, Illinois. Clinton testified on Oberly’s behalf during Oberly’s Senate confirmation hearing for the Court of Appeals post.

Oberly has worked at the Justice Department and in the Solicitor General’s Office, but is new to the D.C. court system. She has argued more than a dozen cases before the U.S. Supreme Court in post-Law School work with the Justice Department’s Land and Natural Resources Division and subsequently as an assistant to Solicitor General Rex Lee.

Oberly is a longtime member of the UW Law School's Board of Visitors.

Submitted by on January 23, 2009

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