Mary Ellen Barbera

Mary Ellen Barbera (born September 10, 1951) is an American lawyer and jurist from Baltimore, Maryland. Since July 8, 2013, she has served as Chief Judge on the Maryland Court of Appeals, the highest court in the state. Until 2008, she served as a judge on the Court of Appeals representing the 7th Appellate Judicial Circuit (Montgomery County). Barbera, a graduate of the University of Maryland School of Law, is the first female Chief Judge of the Maryland Court of Appeals. Prior to her appointment to the Court of Appeals, she served as an at large judge on Maryland's intermediate appellate court, the Court of Special Appeals, from January 4, 2002 to September 2, 2008. On July 3, 2013, Governor Martin O'Malley appointed Judge Barbera as successor to former Chief Judge Robert M. Bell, who reached the mandatory retirement age of 70.