A graduate of McGill University (B.A., Economics, 1974) and New England School of Law (J.D., cum laude, 1977), where she served as Case Comment Editor of the Law Review, Judge Giles was engaged in the private practice of law, specializing in trial practice, before joining the bench.  In 1991, she was appointed as the first openly lesbian judge in Massachusetts to be an Associate Justice of the Boston Municipal Court by Governor William F. Weld; and, in 1998, she was elevated to the Superior Court by Governor Argeo Paul Cellucci. Judge Giles has served as chair of the Massachusetts Trial Court’s Gender Equality Advisory Board and president of the International Association of LGBTQ+ Judges.  She has participated in many educational programs on a variety of topics, such as gender equality, the enhancement of the judicial system, and access to justice.  She teaches “Trial Advocacy” at Suffolk University Law School and is a former member of the Board of Editors of the Boston Bar Journal. Judge Giles is a recipient of the Massachusetts Judges Conference’s Judicial Excellence Award (President’s Award), the Massachusetts Bar Association’s Public Service Award, and Boston College Law School’s Lambda Student Association’s “Courage in Coming Out” Award.