James K. Bredar

James Kelleher Bredar

Judge of the United States District Court for the District of Maryland
Incumbent
Assumed office December 17, 2010
Appointed by	Barack Obama
Preceded by	J. Frederick Motz
Magistrate Judge of the United States District Court for the District of Maryland
In office 1998 – December 17, 2010

Personal details
Born	James Kelleher Bredar 1957 (age 59–60) Omaha, Nebraska
Education	Harvard College B.A. Georgetown University Law Center J.D.

James Kelleher Bredar (born 1957) serves as a United States District Judge of the United States District Court for the District of Maryland, a position he has held since 2010. He previously served for 12 years as a United States Magistrate Judge in the same district.

Bredar was born in Omaha, Nebraska in 1957, and he was raised in Denver, Colorado where he attended parochial and public schools. He earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in 1979 from Harvard College and a Juris Doctor degree in 1982 from the Georgetown University Law Center. From 1981 until 1982 he was a Visiting Student at the Yale Law School.

Bredar clerked for Judge Richard P. Matsch of the United States District Court for the District of Colorado. He next served as a Deputy District Attorney in Moffat County, Colorado (1984–1985), and as an Assistant United States Attorney for the District of Colorado (1985-1989). He later served as an Assistant Federal Public Defender in the District of Colorado (1989–1991). During 1991 and 1992, Bredar served as a project director for the Vera Institute of Justice, a research organization based in New York. Bredar served in London, England. Bredar served as the Federal Public Defender for the District of Maryland (1992–1998).