E. B. Williams Law Library | The Gasch Papers 

Biographical Note: Oliver Gasch

May 4, 1906Born in Washington, D.C. to Herman E. Gasch and Marie Manning Gasch.
1928 Earned A.B. in English, Princeton University
1931 Admitted to the bar of the District of Columbia
1931-1937 Private practice and member, legal department, Capital Transit Company
1932 Earned LL.B., George Washington University Law School, night program
1937-1953 Assistant Corporation Counsel, Washington, D.C.
1940-1960 General Counsel, Interstate Commission on Potomac River Basin
October 17, 1942 Married Sylvia Meyer
1942-1946 U.S. Army Lieutenant Colonel, Judge Advocate General's Corps
1953-1956 Principal Assistant, U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia
1956-1961 U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia
1958 Encourages city law schools to implement legal aid programs. With an anonymous donation, this call becomes the seed that grows into the Prettyman Fellows, Georgetown University Law Center, providing graduate level clinical experience for students in D.C. courts
1958-1962 Chairman, Council on D.C. Law Enforcement
1960-1965 Member, Dean's Council, Georgetown University Law Center
1961-1965 Partner, Craighill, Aiello, Gasch & Craighill, Washington, D.C.
May 6, 1961 Certificate of Recognition, Georgetown University Law Center Legal Aid Society, for "outstanding contribution to the cause of legal aid in the District."
1964-1965 President, District of Columbia Bar Association
July 12, 1965 Nominated to the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, by President Johnson
August 11, 1965 Confirmed and commissioned as Judge, U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia. Also, Judge, Special Court of Regional Rail Reorganization
1965 Awarded Distinguished Alumni Achievement Award, The George Washington University
1981 Assumed senior judge status, U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia
July 9, 1999 Passed away after heart surgery, Georgetown University Hospital, Washington, D.C., aged 93.

Family and Personal Activities: Judge Gasch grew up in Washington, D.C., where his father was in real estate and his mother wrote a newspaper column and worked as a correspondent in the Franklin Roosevelt administration. He married in 1942, and his wife, Sylvia, was principal harpist and soloist with the National Symphony Orchestra. Judge and Mrs. Gasch had one son, Michael Barrett (GULC '76). Judge Gasch was active in the Episcopalian church and led judicial prayer breakfast meetings for many years. As a distinguished alumnus, Judge Gasch led the successful fight to keep the George Washington Law School's night program open in the face of budget cuts in 1984. A Republican, Judge Gasch was appointed by President Lyndon B. Johnson, who was known for using his judicial appointments to help build bridges between political parties. Judge Gasch relaxed as a fisherman, spending vacations on the water with various friends and family.

Affiliations included: fellow, American College of Trial Lawyers; fellow, American Bar Foundation; Bar Association of the District of Columbia, Federal Bar Association; Lawyers Club; National Lawyers Club; member, Phi Delta Phi Legal Fraternity.

Articles included: "Prosecution problems under the Durham rule." The Catholic Lawyer 5(1) Winter 1959, 5-34.; "Pre-trial tactics in criminal cases." Tennessee Law Review 26 Fall 1959, 154-184.; "Trial of a criminal case." Tennessee Law Review 26 Fall 1959, 185-246.

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