Jane Boyle

Judge Jane Boyle graduated with honors from the University of Texas at Austin in 1977 and earned her J.D. from SMU in 1981.

She began her legal career as an Assistant District Attorney for Dallas County in 1981, where for six years she participated in numerous jury trials and bench trials involving offenses ranging from murder and aggravated robbery to securities fraud.  In 1985, she was promoted to Chief Felony Prosecutor of the Major Commercial Fraud Unit for the Dallas District Attorney’s office, where she remained until 1987, prosecuting a variety of white collar crime cases.

In 1987, she was hired as an Assistant United States Attorney for the Northern District of Texas, a position in which she represented the United States in federal criminal and civil cases.  In 1990, she was appointed to the position of United States Magistrate Judge for the Northern District of Texas, Dallas Division,  where she served for twelve years.  On April 16, 2002, President George W. Bush appointed her to be the United States Attorney for the Northern District of Texas. She is the first woman to serve as the top federal prosecutor for the Northern District of Texas. Two years later, on June 29, 2004, President Bush appointed her a United States District Judge for the Northern District of Texas.

At the 2008 Annual Meeting of the State Bar Texas held in Houston, Judge Boyle was presented the 2008 Samuel Pessarra Outstanding Jurist Award by the Texas Bar Foundation.  The award, established in 1995 upon the bequest of Mrs. Samuel Pessarra in honor of her late husband, honors an active Federal or State Judge who exhibits an exceptionally outstanding reputation for competency, efficiency and integrity.   In 2009 Judge Boyle received the Distinguished Alumni Award for Judicial Service from SMU’s Dedman School of Law.