Recipients of the Boston Patent Law Association Distinguished Public Services Award
2010
The Honorable Rya W. Zobel
District Judge
United States District Court for the District of Massachusetts
Born in Zwickau, Germany, Judge Rya Zobel received an A.B. from Radcliffe College in 1953 and an LL.B. from Harvard Law School in 1956. She was a law clerk to George C. Sweeney, Chief Judge of the U.S. District Court, District of Massachusetts from 1956 to 1966. She was in private practice in Boston, Massachusetts from 1967 to 1979. On January 25, 1979, Judge Zobel was nominated by President Jimmy Carter to a new seat on the United States District Court for the District of Massachusetts created by 92 Stat. 1629. She was confirmed by the United States Senate on March 21, 1979, and received her commission on March 23, 1979. Among her judicial duties, she was director of the Federal Judicial Center from 1995 to 1999.
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2009
The Honorable Richard G. Stearns
District Judge
United States District Court for the District of Massachusetts
Judge Stearns was nominated to a seat on the United States District Court for Massachusetts by President William J. Clinton. He joined the Court in 1994 after his confirmation by the U.S. Senate. Prior to becoming a District Judge, he served as Associate Justice of the Superior Court of Massachusetts, Assistant United States Attorney, and Assistant District Attorney for Norfolk County. Judge Stearns is presently a member of the U.S. Judicial Conference Committee on Space and Facilities and the Committee on Judicial Security. He has previously served on the Federal-State Jurisdiction Committee, the Mass Torts Working Group, and the First Circuit Judicial Council. He serves as a Multi-District Litigation Panel Transferee Judge and sits by designation on various Courts of Appeals. Judge Stearns is the recipient of a B.A. in history from Stanford University, an M. Litt. (political philosophy) from Oxford University, which he attended as a Rhodes Scholar, and a J.D. from Harvard Law School. He is also the recipient of Honorary Doctor of Law degrees from Suffolk Law School and Southern New England School of Law.
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2008
The Honorable Patti Saris
District Judge
United States District Court for the District of Massachusetts
United States District Judge Patti B. Saris was born in Boston, Massachusetts, and has resided in the Boston area for most of her life. She is graduate of the Girls' Latin School, Radcliffe College '73 (magna cum laude, Phi Beta Kappa), and Harvard Law School '76 (cum laude). After graduating from law school, she clerked for Hon. Robert Braucher, Justice of the Supreme Judicial Court, and then worked as a litigation associate at Foley, Hoag and Eliot. When Senator Edward M. Kennedy became chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, she moved to Washington D.C. and worked as staff counsel on regulatory reform legislation and other matters. In 1982, after a brief return to private practice, she became an Assistant United States Attorney, and eventually chief of the Civil Division. In 1986, Judge Saris became a United States Magistrate Judge, and in 1989, she was appointed as an Associate Justice of the Massachusetts Superior Court where she presided over civil and criminal trials. In 1994, she was appointed to the United States District Court. In 1997, she received the Haskell Cohn Award for Distinguished Judicial Service from the Boston Bar Association.
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2007
The Honorable William G. Young
District Judge
United States District Court for the District of Massachusetts
Honorable William G. Young, Judge of the United States District Court, District of Massachusetts, has been an active trial judge for more than 25 years, serving on both the Massachusetts Superior Court (1977 85) and the United States District Court for the District of Massachusetts (1985 present). After receiving his A.B., magna cum laude, from Harvard University in 1962, he served two years as an officer in the United States Army. His legal career began in 1967 when he was admitted to the Massachusetts bar upon graduating from the Harvard Law School. He served as law clerk to the Honorable Raymond S. Wilkins, Chief Justice of the Supreme Judicial Court. Following his clerkship, he practiced law as an associate and then partner at the Boston law firm of Bingham, Dana & Gould. His legal career has also included stints as a Special Assistant Attorney General and as Chief Counsel for former Massachusetts Governor Francis W. Sargent.
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