Judge Gertner began serving as a judge in the District of Massachusetts in 1994, assumed senior status on May 22, 2011 and retired on September 1, 2011. She now teaches at Harvard.
A somewhat more detailed bio can be found here.
Judge Gertner is known for being at the forefront of issues relating to the intersection of technology and law. She was a leader in the D. Mass. efforts to incorporate new courtroom technology. She also is an occasional blogger, having made contributions to slate.com and ms-jd.org. In the well-publicized copyright case of RIAA v. Tenenbaum, 03-cv-11661-NG, Judge Gertner had ordered that webcasting of oral arguments be permitted, but that ruling was reversed by the First Circuit, as was a ruling reducing the damages in the case. She also has published a memoir of her days prior to taking the bench.
Judicial Philosophy
Judge Gertner had a reputation as being deliberative judge, one who occasionally enjoys more esoteric legal arguments than other judges, even if those arguments ultimately prove unsuccessful. In the Tenenbaum case Judge Gertner entertained several novel argument from Harvard Law School Professor Charles Nesson, including that his client’s downloading of unauthorized song files amounted to fair use. Though Judge Gertner ultimately ruled that fair use could not be argued to the jury and chastised the professor for some of his unorthodox tactics.
Intellectual Property Cases
Judge Gertner is no stranger to IP cases. She has handled a number of high profile cases, including Tenenbaum. She made regular use of the magistrate judges to handle discovery and pre-trial proceedings. She has also heard summary judgment arguments for patent cases while sitting simultaneously with the assigned magistrate so that she could be fully informed as to the issues pending in the case.
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