PROFILE

PROFILE
Judge Lesley B. Wells
The background of the judge who will preside over Rep. James A. Traficant Jr.'s racketeering, bribery and tax evasion trial in February:
Appointed by President Clinton and confirmed by the Senate in February 1994.
Education -- Chatham College, Pittsburgh, 1959; Cleveland State University, Cleveland-Marshall College of Law, juris doctorate, cum laude, 1974.
Federal court intern, Women's Law Fund, 1973-74.
Private practice, Cleveland 1975-78.
Director, ABAR III Civil Rights Litigation Support Center, Cleveland-Marshall College of Law, 1979-80.
Adjunct professor, Cleveland-Marshall, 1980-'81; assistant adjunct professor, 1980-'83.
Private practice, 1980-'83.
Judge, Cuyahoga County Common Pleas Court, 1983-'94.
Adjunct assistant professor, College of Urban Affairs, Cleveland State University, 1990 to present.
Member of the American Law Institute.
Chaired the Ohio Task Force on Family Violence, served as president of the Cleveland Legal Aid Society, as a member of the Case Western Reserve University's Biomedical Ethics Advisory Committee, trustee of Miami University (Ohio), Chatham College, and Rose Mary Center for Disabled Children. She was a fellow of the Institute for Medicine and Humanities, National Endowment for Humanities and is a member of the Philosophical Club of Cleveland.
Among her awards -- Superior Judicial Award, Ohio Supreme Court; Merit Service Award, Cleveland Bar Association; Josephine Irwin Award for Outstanding Service; Compassionate Judicial Insight Award; Distinguished Alumna Award, Chatham College; Alumni Award for Civic Achievement, Cleveland State University; Golden Gavel Award, Ohio Common Pleas Judges Association; Outstanding Alumni Award, Cleveland-Marshall Law Alumni Association; and 1995 Greater Cleveland Woman of Achievement Award, the YWCA of Cleveland.
Childhood was spent in many parts of the world as the daughter of a U.S. Army officer.