Freda L. Wolfson

---

title: "Freda L. Wolfson" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["1954-births", "living-people", "21st-century-american-women-judges", "judges-of-the-united-states-district-court-for-the-district-of-new-jersey", "people-from-vineland,-new-jersey", "rutgers-school-of-law–newark-alumni", "united-states-district-court-judges-appointed-by-george-w.-bush", "united-states-magistrate-judges", "people-associated-with-lowenstein-sandler"] description: "American judge (born 1954)" topic_path: "law" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Freda_L._Wolfson" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0

::summary American judge (born 1954) ::

::data[format=table title="Infobox officeholder"]

Field	Value
name	Freda L. Wolfson
office	Chief Judge of the United States District Court for the District of New Jersey
term_start	May 16, 2019
term_end	February 1, 2023
predecessor	Jose L. Linares
successor	Renée Marie Bumb
office1	Judge of the United States District Court for the District of New Jersey
term_start1	December 4, 2002
term_end1	February 1, 2023
appointer1	George W. Bush
predecessor1	Nicholas H. Politan
successor1	Robert Kirsch
office2	Magistrate Judge of the United States District Court for the District of New Jersey
term_start2	1986
term_end2	2002
birth_date
birth_place	Vineland, New Jersey, U.S.
party	Democratic
education	Rutgers University (BA, JD)
::

| name = Freda L. Wolfson | image = | alt = | caption = | office = Chief Judge of the United States District Court for the District of New Jersey | term_start = May 16, 2019 | term_end = February 1, 2023 | predecessor = Jose L. Linares | successor = Renée Marie Bumb | office1 = Judge of the United States District Court for the District of New Jersey | term_start1 = December 4, 2002 | term_end1 = February 1, 2023 | appointer1 = George W. Bush | predecessor1 = Nicholas H. Politan | successor1 = Robert Kirsch | office2 = Magistrate Judge of the United States District Court for the District of New Jersey | term_start2 = 1986 | term_end2 = 2002 | birth_name = | birth_date = | birth_place = Vineland, New Jersey, U.S. | death_date = | death_place = | death_cause = | party = Democratic | education = Rutgers University (BA, JD) | signature = | signature_alt =

Freda Linsenbaum Wolfson (born 1954) is a former United States district judge of the United States District Court for the District of New Jersey.

Early life and education

Born in Vineland, New Jersey, Wolfson graduated from Douglass College in Rutgers University with a Bachelor of Arts degree in 1976 and later from Rutgers Law School in Newark with a Juris Doctor in 1979. A daughter of Holocaust survivors, she credited the experiences of her parents as leading her to pursue a career in law.

Career

Following law school graduation, Wolfson worked in private practice in New Jersey from 1979 to 1986 at the firms Lowenstein, Sandler, Kohl, Fisher & Boylan and Clapp & Eisenberg. Following her retirement from the federal bench, Wolfson rejoined her previous law firm, now known as Lowenstein Sandler, as a partner in the firm and as Chair of the firm's alternative dispute resolution group.

Federal judicial service

Wolfson began her federal judicial career as a United States magistrate judge of the United States District Court for the District of New Jersey. Wolfson was appointed to an eight-year term in 1986 and was re-appointed again in 1994 before serving another full eight-year term before her becoming an Article III judge in 2002.

Wolfson was nominated to the United States District Court for the District of New Jersey by President George W. Bush on August 1, 2002, to a seat vacated by Judge Nicholas H. Politan. Wolfson was confirmed by the Senate on November 14, 2002. She received her commission on December 4, 2002. She became Chief Judge on May 16, 2019, after the retirement of Jose L. Linares. She retired on February 1, 2023, and returned to private practice.

References

Sources

References

1. (23 August 2021). "Where We Stand: Assessing Vacancies and Nominations in the Federal Judiciary – the Atlantic Coast".
2. [http://www.njlawjournal.com/id=1202623280113?slreturn=20140106162743 Freda L. Wolfson], ''New Jersey Law Journal''. Accessed February 6, 2014.
3. [http://law.newark.rutgers.edu/home/hon-freda-l-wolfson-79-commencement-speaker Hon. Freda L. Wolfson '79, Commencement Speaker], [[Rutgers School of Law–Newark]]. Accessed February 6, 2014. "Freda Wolfson wanted to be part of the United States legal system for as long as she can remember. A first-generation American, daughter of Holocaust survivors, she inherited a respect for the law and our system of justice born of her family's harrowing years in war-torn Europe."
4. "Former Chief Judge Freda L. Wolfson of the U.S. District Court for the District of New Jersey Joins Lowenstein Sandler as Partner and Chair of the Firm's Alternative Dispute Resolution Group | Lowenstein Sandler LLP".
5. {{FJC Bio
6. "After Half a Lifetime Spent on the Bench, Judge Wolfson Prepares for What's Next".

::callout[type=info title="Wikipedia Source"] This article was imported from Wikipedia and is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Content has been adapted to SurfDoc format. Original contributors can be found on the article history page. ::