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

United States district judge The United States district courts are the trial courts of the U.S. federal judiciary. There is one district court for each federal judicial district, which each cover one U.S. state or, in some cases, a portion of a state. Each district cou ...

of the

United States District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania The United States District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania (in case citations, E.D. Pa.) is one of the original 13 federal judiciary districts created by the Judiciary Act of 1789. It originally sat in Independence Hall in Phil ...

Education and career

Brody was born in

Brooklyn Brooklyn () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Kings County, in the U.S. state of New York. Kings County is the most populous county in the State of New York, and the second-most densely populated county in the United States, be ...

, New York. She earned a

Bachelor of Arts Bachelor of arts (BA or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts degree course is generally completed in three or four year ...

degree from Wellesley College in 1955, and a Juris Doctor from

Columbia Law School Columbia Law School (Columbia Law or CLS) is the law school of Columbia University, a private Ivy League university in New York City. Columbia Law is widely regarded as one of the most prestigious law schools in the world and has always ranked i ...

in 1958. Brody was a deputy assistant state attorney general in New York from 1958 to 1959. From 1973 to 1981 she was in private practice in

Philadelphia Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania#Municipalities, largest city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the List of United States cities by population, sixth-largest city i ...

. In 1981 Brody was appointed by Pennsylvania Governor Richard Thornburgh, and then elected a Judge of the

Court of Common Pleas A court of common pleas is a common kind of court structure found in various common law jurisdictions. The form originated with the Court of Common Pleas at Westminster, which was created to permit individuals to press civil grievances against one ...

for Montgomery County, Pennsylvania, which is part of the

Philadelphia Metropolitan Area Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the sixth-largest city in the U.S., the second-largest city in both the Northeast megalopolis and Mid-Atlantic regions after New York City. Since 1 ...

Federal judicial service

Brody was nominated by President George H. W. Bush on November 22, 1991, to the

, to a new seat created as a result of the passage of 104 Stat. 5089. She was confirmed by the

United States Senate The United States Senate is the upper chamber of the United States Congress, with the House of Representatives being the lower chamber. Together they compose the national bicameral legislature of the United States. The composition and pow ...

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 would be heard in federal court or whether the cases would be heard by an arbitrator in accordance with the league's

collective bargaining Collective bargaining is a process of negotiation between employers and a group of employees aimed at agreements to regulate working salaries, working conditions, benefits, and other aspects of workers' compensation and rights for workers. The ...

agreement, as the league has requested. In an April 9, 2013 hearing, the NFL's lawyer,

Paul Clement Paul Drew Clement (born June 24, 1966) is an American lawyer who served as U.S. Solicitor General from 2004 to 2008 and is known for his advocacy before the U.S. Supreme Court. He established his own law firm, Clement & Murphy, in 2022 after le ...

, 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 Chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE) is a neurodegenerative disease linked to repeated trauma to the head. The encephalopathy symptoms can include behavioral problems, mood problems, and problems with thinking. The disease often gets worse ...

(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