Vicki Ballou-Watts
MSA SC 3520-12455
Extended Biography:
On May 29, 2002 Vicki Watts-Ballou was sworn in as the first African-American female judge in the Circuit Court of Baltimore County. Commenting on the appointment, Watts-Ballou stated, "I'm very proud of the fact that I'm the first. But I like to think the governor saw in me somebody who's worked hard and done a good job," she said. Her record of service and the praise of colleagues indicated that Ballou-Watts was indeed well-qualified to assume the judgeship. Judge Alexandra N. Williams, who served with Ballou-Watts in Towson District Court, commented, "[a]bove and beyond any issues of race or gender equity, this is a woman who is intelligent, tremendously fair and is really a jewel for Baltimore County citizens to have on the bench."1
Ballou-Watts is a Montgomery, Alabama native, the youngest of four children. Her family moved frequently throughout the South, spending time in Elizabeth City, North Carolina, and later in Charlotte during her high school years. She went on to study journalism at Howard University where she graduated with honors in 1980.
Ballou-Watts was not always sure that she wanted a career in law. At one point in college, she envisioned herself owning a radio station, but she eventually turned to law because she felt that she could better help people.2 In 1983 she graduated with a law degree from the University of North Carolina in Chapel Hill and moved to Baltimore to be near her future husband, Claude Watts Jr.3 After clerking for Gerald A. Smith and Associates for a year, Ballou-Watts went on to pass the Maryland bar exam on her first try. She then worked as an associate for Smith for a few years before starting her own practice in 1987. In her solo general practice, Ballou-Watts focused on personal injury litigation, family law, contracts, criminal law, worker's compensation, and employment law.4 Her former employer, Gerald Smith, praised Ballou-Watts for both her intellect and her compassion.5
While continuing her solo practice, Ballou-Watts also worked as a panel attorney in the Public Defender's Office of Baltimore City and served on an inquiry panel for the Attorney Grievance Commission where she handled a variety of cases such as those involving contract disputes and personal injury. In 1999 she became the county's first black female judge when Governor Parris Glendening appointed her to the District Court for Baltimore County. She achieved another "first" with her appointment to the Baltimore County Circuit Court in 2002. According to Governor Glendening, "Judge Ballou-Watts is among the county's most respected jurists and has proven to be an extraordinarily skilled and fair-minded judge."6
Ballou-Watts continues to be active in the legal community. She is a member of the District Court Judicial Education Committee and the National Association of Women Judges, vice-chair of the Continuing Legal Education Committee and chair of the Professionalism Committee for the Baltimore County Bar Association, and serves on the Advisory Board for Family and Children's Services of Baltimore County. She has lectured for the Maryland State Bar Association (MSBA), the District Court Judicial Education Center, and the Maryland Trial Lawyers Association. In addition, she has co-authored with Judge Keith Matthews the child custody and visitation portion of the MSBA Select Committee on Gender Equality Report for 2001.7
Judge Ballou-Watts lives in Reisterstown with her husband and three children. She loves jazz -- particularly Ella Fitzgerald -- and enjoys reading novels and taking walks with her children in the neighborhoods near her home.
Notes:
1. "Breaking a barrier
in Baltimore County; Diversity: One of the two black judges of the District
Court is about to be sworn in as the first black female Circuit Court judge.
" The Baltimore Sun, 14 May 2002.
2. Ibid.
3. Ibid.
4. State of Maryland Governor's Press Release Office, Press
Release, 24 April 2002, on-line (http://www.gov.state.md.us/gov/press/2002/apr/html/circuitct.html).
5. "Breaking a barrier
in Baltimore County; Diversity: One of the two black judges of the District
Court is about to be sworn in as the first black female Circuit Court judge.
" The Baltimore Sun, 14 May 2002.
6. State of Maryland Governor's Press Release Office, Press
Release, 24 April 2002, on-line (http://www.gov.state.md.us/gov/press/2002/apr/html/circuitct.html).
7. Ibid.
Biography written by Jennifer Copeland, 2002 summer intern, Maryland State Archives
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