Karon O. Bowdre

Karon Owen Bowdre
Chief Judge of the United States District Court for the Northern District of Alabama
Incumbent
Assumed office November 18, 2013
Preceded by	Sharon Lovelace Blackburn
Judge of the United States District Court for the Northern District of Alabama
Incumbent
Assumed office November 8, 2001
Appointed by	George W. Bush
Preceded by	Sam C. Pointer Jr.
Personal details
Born	1955 (age 68–69) Montgomery, Alabama
Education	Samford University (B.A.) Cumberland School of Law (J.D.)

Karon Owen Bowdre (born 1955) is the Chief United States District Judge of the United States District Court for the Northern District of Alabama.

Early life and education

Born in Montgomery, Alabama, Bowdre graduated from Samford University with her Bachelor of Arts degree in 1977 and later from Cumberland School of Law at Samford University with a Juris Doctor in 1981.

Legal career

She was a law clerk for Junius Foy Guin, Jr. of the United States District Court for the Northern District of Alabama from 1981 to 1982. Bowdre was a partner at the Birmingham, Alabama, firm of Rives & Peterson from 1982 to 1990. Beginning in 1989, Bowdre became a full-time Professor of law at Samford University Cumberland School of Law where she taught insurance law, legal ethics, and professional responsibility, and directed Cumberland’s legal research and writing program before her federal appointment in 2001.

Federal judicial service

On September 4, 2001, Bowdre was nominated to the United States District Court for the Northern District of Alabama by President George W. Bush. She was nominated to the seat vacated by Sam Clyde Pointer Jr. Bowdre was confirmed by the Senate on November 6, 2001, and received her commission on November 8, 2001. She assumed the position of Chief Judge of the United States District Court for the Northern District of Alabama on November 18, 2013.

Sources

• Karon O. Bowdre at the Biographical Directory of Federal Judges, a publication of the Federal Judicial Center.