Eileen Kato, ’80

ABA’s Justice Kennedy Commission on Sentencing; Past chair of ABA’s Conference on Specialized Court Judges

After graduating from the School of Law in 1980, Eileen Kato worked as a special assistant to the U.S. Attorney for the Western Washington District, and as a senior trial attorney with the Department of the Treasury. She also practiced as an attorney in two private firms before joining the bench in King County, Washington, in 1994. Judge Kato was elected president of the Washington State District and Municipal Judges Association, becoming the first judge of color to head the organization. Judge Kato serves on the American Bar Association’s Justice Kennedy Commission on Sentencing and as immediate past-chair of the ABA’s Conference on Specialized Court Judges. She also served as president of the National Asian Pacific American Bar Association’s Judicial Council and as West Division Presiding Judge of the King County District Court. She is active in numerous committees for the judicial and legal communities, and in many community organizations such as Nikkei Concerns and the Japanese American Citizens League.