Lesley B. Wells
Lesley Simpson Brooks Wells was a United States district judge of the United States District Court for the Northern District of Ohio.
Wells was born Lesley Simpson Wells in Muskegon, Michigan. She earned a Bachelor of Arts degree from Chatham College (now Chatham University) in 1959 and a Juris Doctor from the Cleveland State University College of Law in 1974. She was employed as a federal court intern through the Women's Law Fund from 1973 to 1974.
Career
Wells maintained a private law practice for six years in Cleveland, interrupted by two years as director of the ABAR III Civil Rights Litigation Support Center at the Cleveland State University College of Law. She was adjunct professor at the Cleveland State University College of Law and adjunct assistant professor, College of Urban Affairs, Cleveland State University.
Judicial service
After more than a decade as a Cuyahoga County Court of Common Pleas judge, President Bill Clinton nominated her on November 19, 1993, for a judgeship vacated by John Michael Manos. She was confirmed by the Senate on February 10, 1994, and received her commission the following day. Twelve years later, on February 14, 2006 she became a senior judge. She retired from active service on October 2, 2015.
Wells was married to the late Charles F. Clarke, a partner in the multinational law firm of Squire, Sanders & Dempsey. The couple had four children. Charles died in January 2014. Lesley Wells died at her home in Cleveland Heights, Ohio, on August 5, 2025, at the age of 87.