Anita Jane Brody (née Blumstein; born May 25, 1935), also known as Anita Blumstein Brody, is a

senior Senior (shortened as Sr.) means "the elder" in Latin and is often used as a suffix for the elder of two or more people in the same family with the same given name, usually a parent or grandparent. It may also refer to: * Senior (name), a surname ...

United States district judge of the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania.

Education and career

Brody was born in Brooklyn,

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States New York may also refer to: Film and television * '' ...

. She earned a Bachelor of Arts degree from

Wellesley College Wellesley College is a private women's liberal arts college in Wellesley, Massachusetts, United States. Founded in 1870 by Henry and Pauline Durant as a female seminary, it is a member of the original Seven Sisters Colleges, an unofficial g ...

in 1955, and a

Juris Doctor The Juris Doctor (J.D. or JD), also known as Doctor of Jurisprudence (J.D., JD, D.Jur., or DJur), is a graduate-entry professional degree in law and one of several Doctor of Law degrees. The J.D. is the standard degree obtained to practice law ...

from Columbia Law School in 1958. Brody was a deputy assistant state attorney general in

from 1958 to 1959. From 1973 to 1981 she was in private practice in Philadelphia. In 1981 Brody was appointed by Pennsylvania Governor

Richard Thornburgh Richard Lewis Thornburgh (July 16, 1932 – December 31, 2020) was an American lawyer, author, and Republican politician who served as the 41st governor of Pennsylvania from 1979 to 1987, and then as the United States attorney general fro ...

, and then elected a Judge of the Court of Common Pleas for

Montgomery County Montgomery County may refer to: Australia * The former name of Montgomery Land District, Tasmania United Kingdom * The historic county of Montgomeryshire, Wales, also called County of Montgomery United States * Montgomery County, Alabama * Mon ...

, Pennsylvania, which is part of the Philadelphia Metropolitan Area.

Federal judicial service

Brody was nominated by President

George H. W. Bush George Herbert Walker BushSince around 2000, he has been usually called George H. W. Bush, Bush Senior, Bush 41 or Bush the Elder to distinguish him from his eldest son, George W. Bush, who served as the 43rd president from 2001 to 2009; pr ...

on November 22, 1991, to the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania, to a new seat created as a result of the passage of 104 Stat. 5089. She was confirmed by the United States Senate on September 2, 1992, and received her commission on October 2, 1992.

Notable case

Brody presided over the case to decide whether a group of lawsuits by former NFL players against the

NFL The National Football League (NFL) is a professional American football league that consists of 32 teams, divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National Football Conference (NFC). The NFL is one of the major ...

would be heard in federal court or whether the cases would be heard by an arbitrator in accordance with the league's collective bargaining agreement, as the league has requested. In an April 9, 2013 hearing, the NFL's lawyer, Paul Clement, admitted it would be difficult for the NFL to make the argument that an arbitrator should hear the cases of former players who never signed the collective bargaining agreement. The medical condition chronic traumatic encephalopathy (sometimes referred to simply as CTE) resulting from concussions is a factor in the suits.Judge hears NFL arguments to dismiss head trauma cases
nytimes.com, April 10, 2013.

References

Sources

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Brody, Anita Blumstein 1935 births Living people Columbia Law School alumni Judges of the Pennsylvania Courts of Common Pleas Judges of the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania United States district court judges appointed by George H. W. Bush 20th-century American judges People from Brooklyn Wellesley College alumni 21st-century American judges 20th-century American women judges 21st-century American women judges