101 West Lombard Street
Baltimore, MD 21201
(410) 962-4288

Magistrate Judge Beth P. Gesner was born in 1958 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. She attended Indiana University of Pennsylvania and graduated summa cum laude in December 1979. She received her J.D. degree, cum laude, from the Georgetown University Law Center, in Washington, D. C. in May 1983. While at the Georgetown University Law Center, Judge Gesner was an Associate Editor on one of Georgetown’s law reviews, “The Tax Lawyer.”

Upon graduation from law school, Judge Gesner served as law clerk to the Honorable William B. Bryant of the United States District Court for the District of Columbia. From October 1984 to March 1987, Judge Gesner worked as a litigation attorney at the law firm of Hogan & Hartson in Washington, D. C. In April 1987, Judge Gesner was appointed as an Assistant United States Attorney for the District of Maryland, where she handled both civil and criminal cases. From September 1992 through April 1993, Judge Gesner was detailed to the Department of Justice in Washington, D.C., to work on the United States House of Representatives Bank Investigation as an Assistant to the Special Counsel to the Attorney General, Malcolm R. Wilkey.

In September 1993, Judge Gesner was selected as the Chief of the newly created Southern Division of the United States Attorney’s office in Greenbelt, Maryland. While serving in that position, Judge Gesner received the United States Attorney’s Office Award for Outstanding Prosecution. From November 1996 to May 1997, Judge Gesner served as the Acting First Assistant United States Attorney. Judge Gesner thereafter returned to her position as Chief of the Southern Division where she remained until her appointment as a United States Magistrate Judge of the United States District Court for the District of Maryland in May 1999.  Judge Gesner served as a United States Magistrate Judge until her retirement on August 31, 2023, including her tenure as Chief Magistrate Judge from October 1, 2017 until August 31, 2023.  Judge Gesner was recalled as a Magistrate Judge on September 1, 2023.

From 1990-99, Judge Gesner served as an Adjunct Professor at the Catholic University of America, The Columbus School of Law in Washington, D. C. where she taught Federal Criminal Litigation. In addition, Judge Gesner is a member of the United States Court of Appeals, Fourth Circuit; the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit; the United States District Court for the District of Maryland; and the United States District Court for the District of Columbia.