D.C. Bar Remembers Trailblazing Judge Rosemary M. Collyer

D.C. Bar Remembers Trailblazing Judge Rosemary M. Collyer

June 23, 2026

By Jeremy Conrad

The D.C. Bar joins the United States District Court for the District of Columbia in mourning the loss of Judge Rosemary Elizabeth (Mayers) Collyer, a pioneering jurist whose career included 17 years of service on the District Court.

In a statement, Chief Judge James E. Boasberg noted Collyer's "trailblazing career in law and government, defined by careful deliberation, humility, and profound mentorship."

Collyer was appointed to the District Court by President George W. Bush in 2002, taking senior status in 2016. Starting in 2013, Collyer served on the United States Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court for seven years, three of them as its presiding judge. She also served four years as chief judge of the Alien Terrorist Removal Court.

Collyer heard many significant cases, including claims of torture by a Guantanamo Bay inmate, reviews of Federal Bureau of Investigation wiretap procedures, the elimination of MetLife's "too big to fail" designation, challenges to the Affordable Care Act, and a lawsuit related to the targeted drone killings of American citizens overseas.

Collyer's judicial career was preceded by groundbreaking roles, including as the first woman general counsel for the National Labor Relations Board, the first woman chair of the Federal Mine Safety and Health Review Commission, and, after being elected chair of Crowell & Moring LLP, the first woman to hold such a position at a major Washington, D.C., law firm.

Prior to her passing, Collyer joined her classmates Debra Lappin and Kris Hoeltgen in endowing a scholarship fund for future women lawyers through the Denver Foundation. The trio met at the University of Denver Sturm College of Law.

"Rosemary said once that being a judge was the best job in the world," said Hoeltgen. "Still, she never focused on all she had accomplished, but rather on her pride in the careers of the many law clerks she had mentored."

This focus was the motivation behind the scholarship's launch, according to Lappin. "Perhaps one, just one of [the program's beneficiaries], might become a distinguished legal scholar in the image of Rosemary Collyer. We hope so," Lappin said.

Collyer died on June 7, 2026, in Rockville, Maryland, following a long illness. She was 80 years old. A memorial service is planned in the coming weeks. In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions may be directed to the Study Group Scholarship for Women in Law at the Denver Foundation.

Portrait courtesy of the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia