You are here

Susan K. Gauvey, Magistrate Judge

101 West Lombard Street
Baltimore, MD 21201
(410) 962-0723


Magistrate Judge Susan K. Gauvey was born in Van Wert, Ohio, but grew up in West Palm Beach, Florida. Judge Gauvey's formal education includes a B.A. in political science (cum laude) from Rosary College in River Forest, Illinois, in 1970. From 1968-69, she attended Georgetown University School of Foreign Service in Washington, D. C. Judge Gauvey received her J.D. in 1973 from Northwestern University School of Law in Chicago, Illinois, and did postgraduate work at the Johns Hopkins School of Public Health in Baltimore, Maryland, in Mental Hygiene.

Immediately following law school, Judge Gauvey served as law clerk to the late Honorable Morell E. Sharp, U. S. District Judge in the U. S. District Court for the Western District of Washington. From 1975-79, Judge Gauvey worked for the Legal Aid Bureau in Baltimore, Maryland, as a staff attorney and then as Co-Chief of the Mental Health Law Project. In 1979, Judge Gauvey joined the Office of the Attorney General in Baltimore, Maryland, as an Assistant Attorney General working in the Department of Health and Mental Hygiene and then in the Civil Division, finally serving as Principal Counsel for Trial Litigation. In 1986, Judge Gauvey joined the Baltimore law firm of Venable, Baetjer and Howard, working in the Litigation Division. On February 26, 1996, Judge Gauvey was appointed a United States Magistrate Judge of the District Court for the District of Maryland, where she served until her retirement on July 13, 2014.  Judge Gauvey was recalled as a magistrate judge on June 15, 2015.

Judge Gauvey is the recipient of several distinguished awards, including the Exceptional Service Award from the Maryland Attorney General's Office; Maryland Top 100 Women in 1996, 1998 and 2000; the Circle of Excellence Award in 2000; the Peter DiRito Award of the Maryland Chapter of the Federal Bar Association in 2007; Cardinal Newman High School Community Leadership Award in 2009; and The Daily Record Leadership in Law Award – Top Winner in 2010. She is also a member of many professional organizations, including Network 2000; Wranglers Law Club; Lawyers' Round Table; and the National Association of Women Judges. In addition, Judge Gauvey has authored a number of publications principally in the areas of Alternative Dispute Resolution, discovery and litigation.