Judge Nancy Gertner Photo: Harvard Law School
Nancy Gertner is a former US federal judge who built her career around the protection of women's rights, civil liberties and justice for all. Appointed to the federal bench of the district court of Massachusetts by President Bill Clinton in 1994, she retired from the bench in 2011 to teach at Harvard Law School. Named one of the most influential lawyers of the past 25 years by Massachusetts Lawyers Weekly, Gertner has written and spoken throughout the US, Europe and Asia. She has published widely on sentencing, discrimination, and forensic evidence; women's rights; and the jury system. Her autobiography, In Defense of Women: Memoirs of an Unrepentant Advocate, was published in 2011. Gertner is in New Zealand to speak at a conference to mark the retirement of the chief justice Dame Sian Elias.
