Meet Jane Roberts, Chief Justice's Spouse
Jane Sullivan Roberts has BigLaw experience, a master’s degree in applied mathematics and a law degree from Georgetown.
She is the wife of Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr., the Huffington Post reports. According to the story headline, she “breaks the mold of Supreme Court wives.”
The story recounts her accomplishments and background. Jane Roberts became a partner in the technology practice at Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman in the 1990s. She shifted to a position assisting other lawyers at the firm with career development when her husband was appointed to the federal appeals court in Washington, D.C.
She joined legal recruiting firm, Major Lindsey & Africa in 2007, less than two years after her husband joined the U.S. Supreme Court. A law school classmate tells the Huffington Post that Jane Roberts left Pillsbury Winthrop because of the potential for conflicts.
Jane Roberts grew up in the Bronx, the daughter of a mechanic and administrative assistant. Her first job was as a waitress at age 15, and she found work after college teaching math in Australia. She told students at New England School of Law in a commencement address that she has varied work experience, the story notes.
“I’ve been a restaurant waitress, a hotel hostess, a car parker, a nurse’s aide, a maid in a motel, a bookkeeper and a researcher,” she said. “I was an Irish Catholic waitress in a Greek restaurant in a Jewish neighborhood,” as well as “a cocktail waitress in a port town near the iron ore mines in far Western Australia.”
She has volunteered for several nonprofits, including Feminists for Life, where she served as legal counsel until 2007, the story says. The group believes women are driven to abortion because of unmet needs in the workplace and in society. On the day of the health law ruling, the group issued a statement saying it was pleased with many provisions of the law and urging lawmakers to make sure abortion is not covered by insurance.
Jane and John Roberts have two 12-year-old children. According to the story, the couple generally sticks close to home, “preferring the company of good friends over the party scene.”
Hat tip to How Appealing.
