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Ellen L. Hollander, District Judge

101 West Lombard Street
Chambers 5B
Baltimore, MD 21201
(410) 962-0742


District Judge Ellen L. Hollander was born in 1949 in New York City. Judge Hollander obtained her A.B. degree from Goucher College in 1971, and received her J.D. degree in 1974 from Georgetown University Law Center, where she served as an editor of the American Criminal Law Review. She was admitted to the Maryland Bar in 1974.

Upon graduation from law school, Judge Hollander served as law clerk to the Honorable James R. Miller, Jr., United States District Judge for the District of Maryland. She entered private practice in 1975, in the litigation department of the Baltimore law firm of Frank, Bernstein, Conaway & Goldman. In 1979, Judge Hollander became an Assistant Attorney General in the Civil Division of the Office of the Maryland Attorney General. From 1979 to 1983, Judge Hollander served as an Assistant U.S. Attorney for the District of Maryland.

Judge Hollander returned to the private practice of law in 1983, again with the firm of Frank, Bernstein, Conaway, & Goldman. She became an equity partner of the firm in 1985.

In 1989, Judge Hollander was appointed to the Circuit Court for Baltimore City by Governor William Donald Schaefer. She was elevated to the Maryland Court of Special Appeals in 1994, and continued in that position through 2010.

On April 21, 2010, President Obama nominated Judge Hollander to the United States District Court for the District of Maryland. The Senate confirmed her nomination on December 18, 2010, and Judge Hollander took the oath of office on January 4, 2011.

Judge Hollander is a member of numerous bar associations and professional organizations, and is a Fellow of the American Bar Foundation, the Maryland Bar Foundation, and the Baltimore City Bar Foundation. She became an ASTAR Science and Technology Fellow in 2005 (Advanced Scientific and Technological Adjudicative Resources Judge). From 2008 until her appointment to the federal bench in December 2010, Judge Hollander was a Member of The Maryland Court of Appeals Standing Committee on Rules of Practice and Procedure, chairing the Appellate Rules Subcommittee. She is a past president of Wranglers Law Club, a member of Lawyers Round Table and the Rule Day Club, and a past member of the U.S. Magistrate Merit Selection Panel for the District of Maryland.

Judge Hollander has lectured at continuing legal and judicial education programs. She has also been active in service to the community. From 1996 to 2013, Judge Hollander served as a Trustee of Goucher College. She has also been a member of several other boards, including the Library Company of the Baltimore Bar; the Roland Park Baseball Leagues; and Advocates for Children and Youth, Inc. Judge Hollander is the recipient of numerous awards, including the Rita Davidson Award from the Women’s Bar Association and the Dorothy Beatty Memorial Award from the Women’s Law Center.