Kimba Maureen Wood (born January 21, 1944) is a senior United States district judge of the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York. Wood has presided over many high-profile cases involving such figures as "Junk Bond King" Michael Milken, Republican majority leader of the New York State Senate Dean Skelos, and Donald Trump's personal attorney, Michael Cohen. She is also known as "The Love Judge" after her alleged affair with Wall Street financier Frank Richardson. Early life and education Wood was born in Port Townsend, Washington. Wood was named for the small town of Kimba, South Australia, which her mother saw in an atlas. Her father was a career officer and speechwriter in the United States Army. Wood lived in Europe during her youth, where her father was stationed in several places, and she received early education at the Sorbonne. In 1965, Wood graduated cum laude from Connecticut College with a bachelor's degree in government. In 1966, she received a Master of Science in political theory from the London School of Economics. While in London, she spent five days training as a Playboy bunny, but quit before beginning to work at a club. She then earned a Juris Doctor from Harvard Law School in 1969, where there were fewer than twenty women in her class. Career From 1969 to 1970, Wood was in private practice in Washington, D.C., working at Steptoe & Johnson where she was the only female attorney. From 1970 to 1971, she worked at the Office of Economic Opportunity. After relocating to New York City in 1971, Wood returned to private practice from 1971 to 1988, working as an antitrust law expert at the firm of LeBoeuf, Lamb, Leiby & MacRae. She became one of the first women to break into the male-dominated world of antitrust law, and became partner at LeBoeuf in 1978. Federal judicial service On December 18, 1987, based upon a recommendation from Senator Al D'Amato, Wood was nominated by President Ronald Reagan to a seat on the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York vacated by Judge Constance Baker Motley. Wood was confirmed by a unanimous United States Senate on April 19, 1988, and received her commission on April 20, 1988. She entered on duty on July 28, 1988. Wood was a member of the Judicial Conference of the United States from 2006 to 2007.