Irene C. Berger

Judge, U.S. District Court

By Olivia Miller

The youngest of nine children, Judge Irene Berger was raised in McDowell County, the southernmost county in West Virginia, where her father worked in the coal mines for nearly 41 years. Her mother was a housewife, and both were bright and well read despite not having a high school education. Berger’s parents made many sacrifices to ensure she received an education that would set her up for a prosperous future. To honor those sacrifices and the road they paved for her, Berger proudly kept her maiden name when she got married.

Today, Berger is known as a pioneer in the Mountain State. She was the first African American to be named a federal judge in West Virginia, a position she was appointed to by President Barack Obama in 2009 and confirmed to by the U.S. Senate with a sweeping 97-0 vote. In addition, Berger was the first African American female lawyer to serve as an assistant prosecuting attorney in the state’s largest county and be elected to serve as a circuit court judge.

“These accomplishments are important but are not ones I achieved without help from others,” she says. “I have studied, worked hard and tried to treat people well and conduct myself in the manner our profession demands, but at each and every stage of my career there has been someone ready to push me or help me take the next step.”

As a child, Berger was inspired by the teachers who guided her through elementary and high school. She loved her English and mathematics classes and at one time desired to become an educator herself.

“These teachers inspired me, helped bolster my self-confidence and opened doors for me through education,” she says. “Today I can still think of no career more impactful than teaching.”

Berger’s undergraduate career was driven by her love for numbers. She earned a bachelor’s degree in mathematics from West Virginia University (WVU) before beginning law school there in 1976. Despite the demanding nature of law school, she enjoyed the camaraderie of her law school cohort and appreciated the legal issues presented in the coursework.

“Law school was challenging in that the manner of studying and the necessary preparation was very different than what had been required of me and what I had experienced in undergraduate school,” she says. “I mostly enjoyed the classes in which we discussed the practical aspects of practicing law and those in which we were required to present oral argument.”

Throughout her studies, she was heavily influenced by her criminal procedure and evidence class, which was taught by the late Professor Frank Cleckley, the first African American justice of the West Virginia Supreme Court.

“He was very knowledgeable, and because he also practiced law, he could give us a perspective from practical experience that made the theory more understandable,” she says. “He would literally strut into class, cite cases and teach without notes. Many of us who attended WVU College of Law are fortunate to have been taught evidence by him. He was one of the country’s premier lawyers and professors.”

Berger completed her law degree in 1979, after which she began her career as a staff attorney at the Legal Aid Society of Charleston. There, she represented low-income clients who could not afford an attorney in civil matters.

“This position was a great fit for me because the desire to help people was my motivation to become a lawyer,” she says. “The work and its immediate impact for the clients were very gratifying.”

This position also afforded her the opportunity to learn from other professionals in her field.

“I was fortunate to work with very supportive lawyers who taught me by example how important the work was and the impact it had on others,” she says. “They taught me substantive law, but, more importantly, they also taught me how to be an effective advocate for my clients, to respect the opposition and to guard my personal credibility as well as the credibility of the office.”

After almost three years with the legal aid society, Berger accepted the position of assistant prosecuting attorney for Kanawha County. In 1994, she was named an assistant U.S. attorney for the Southern District of West Virginia. Ten weeks into that job, she was appointed circuit judge in Kanawha County. Berger held this position for 15 years before being nominated to serve as a U.S. District Court judge.

“In all of these positions, I learned to be a better listener,” she says. “I found that it is not sufficient to simply hear what someone says but that it is also necessary to think about what they say from their perspective in order to truly understand what is being said. This was a valuable lesson in working with victims of crime as an assistant prosecutor and assistant U.S. attorney, and it is a necessary and invaluable tool in being a judge.”

Throughout her career, Berger has been a fierce advocate for low-income men, women and children in West Virginia. Helping others is what initially drew her to the legal profession, and her strong commitment to helping those without access to basic services led to her being identified by her colleagues as the ideal chairperson for the Legal Services for the Poor Symposium. In this role, Berger led statewide efforts to provide and enhance legal services for those in need.

“We recognized the need for low-income people to have access to our courts and the disadvantage they had in trying to represent themselves as plaintiffs or defendants in civil matters without representation and the necessary information regarding substantive and procedural legal matters,” she says. “The work of the symposium was important to me because it was established to grant real access to courts for those who did not otherwise have it.”

Despite the many duties and responsibilities of her current position, Berger has remained actively engaged with her alma mater. She is a trustee with the WVU Alumni Association’s Loyalty Permanent Endowment Fund, where she and two other trustees review applications and award scholarships to WVU students. Currently, she and her husband are in the process of establishing a scholarship fund to benefit students in McDowell, Mercer and Wyoming counties who intend to pursue a degree in law but lack the financial means to do so.

Recognized as a valued mentor, she sees the importance in investing in the next generation and helping guide them to success because she would not be where she is today without the guidance of others.

“I have been very fortunate throughout my career to have had people take an interest in my personal and professional development,” she says. “That has made challenges, both personal and professional, easier to overcome. I am not unmindful of the fact that the odds of someone with my background being appointed by the president of the United States were not very high. I am in my current position because of the mentoring, guidance, influence and help from others. I hope younger people who see my path will walk away with the confident knowledge that they can accomplish their goals if they stay focused, work hard and are willing to ask for and accept help when it is appropriate.”

Berger’s efforts in paying it forward have been recognized with several awards and honors, including the Distinguished West Virginian Award from Governor Bob Wise, West Virginia African-American Women of Distinction Award and Celebrate Women in Government Award by the West Virginia Women’s Commission, WVU College of Law Women’s Law Caucus Distinguished Woman in the Public Sector of Law Award, Outstanding Alumna Award by the WVU Alumni Association, WVU College of Law Justicia Award, West Virginia’s Finest Award from the Charleston Police Department, Outstanding Woman of Achievement Award from the Charleston YWCA, Mountain State Bar Association Merit Award, NAACP Image Award for Leadership, Departmental Alumni Award from the Department of Mathematics of the WVU Eberly College of Arts and Sciences and Community Champion Award by the Kanawha Institute for Social Research and Action. She also received an honorary degree from the University of Charleston and was named a fellow of the West Virginia State Bar Foundation and the American Bar Association.

To Berger, no one award means more than the other. “It is an honor any time a person or group honors a personal trait or professional accomplishment,” she says. “I was mentored by people I respected and admired personally and professionally. Their interest in me enhanced my confidence, and their help gave me opportunities I likely would not have had otherwise. Based on my experience and understanding of what a meaningful impact mentoring can have, I would simply like to pay it forward.”