Judge Kessler was appointed to the United States District Court for the District of Columbia in July 1994. She received a B.A. from Cornell University and an LL.B. from Harvard Law School. Following graduation, Judge Kessler was employed by the National Labor Relations Board, served as Legislative Assistant to a U.S. Senator and a U.S. Congressman, worked for the New York City Board of Education, and then opened a public interest law firm. In June 1977, she was appointed Associate Judge of the Superior Court of the District of Columbia. From 1981 to 1985, Judge Kessler served as Presiding Judge of the Family Division and was a major architect of one of the nation?s first Multi-Door Courthouses. She served as President of the National Association of Women Judges from 1983 to 1984, and now serves on the Executive Committee of the ABA?s Conference of Federal Trial Judges and the U.S. Judicial Conference's Committee on Court Administration and Management.