Judge Catherine Chen

Governor Wes Moore appointed Catherine Chen to the Circuit Court for Baltimore City on June 4, 2025; she was sworn in on June 25, 2025.

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Prior to her appointment to the Circuit Court, Governor Larry Hogan appointed Catherine Chen to the District Court of Maryland for Baltimore City on June 6, 2018; she was sworn in on June 21, 2018. While serving on the District Court, Judge Chen served on multiple committees within the Judiciary, including the Rules Committee; the Domestic Violence and Peace Order Subcommittee; the Alternative Dispute Resolution Subcommittee; the Forms Subcommittee; and the Civil Law Subcommittee. Judge Chen co-chaired the annual Judicial Conference in 2022 and 2023. Judge Chen also taught many courses at the Judicial College, including consumer debt collection, rent court, sex offender dynamics, and foundations of criminal law.

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Since her appointment in June, Judge Chen has continued to be honored to serve on the Rules Committee, as well as her other subcommittee appointments. Judge Chen has also continued to serve as faculty with the Judicial College, most recently teaching about the Fourth Amendment.

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Prior to her judicial appointments, Judge Chen served as an Assistant State’s Attorney in the Baltimore City Office of the State’s Attorney’s Special Victims Unit, prosecuting intimate partner violence, child abuse, and child pornography matters. Judge Chen also worked as an attorney for the House of Ruth Domestic Violence Legal Clinic and the Maryland Crime Victims’ Resource Center. Before moving back to Baltimore, Judge Chen served as a public defender for juveniles in the Bronx and Brooklyn and also worked as an attorney for the Administration for Children’s Services in Queens.

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Judge Chen was born in Queens, New York, but grew up in Baltimore and is a graduate of the Bryn Mawr School. She went on to graduate from Tufts University and Brooklyn Law School. Judge Chen is honored to be the daughter and sister of Taiwanese immigrants and the mother of three biological children and one bonus child.

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