Beverly Cutler ’67 — A Judge Shares Her Legal Expertise

By Rich Beebe P'10

“The passion to correct wrongful action must be strong in me,” wrote retired Judge Beverly Cutler in an article entitled “After the Bench” for the Winter 2021 issue of Counterbalance, a publication of the National Association of Women Judges (NAWJ). “I love helping people with civil rights and social justice issues.”

Before retiring in 2009, Beverly served 32 years in Alaskan state courts, first as a district court judge and later as a superior court judge. Her long career on the bench followed several years spent as a public defender.

Following the 2016 election, Beverly said she found herself “in a deep stew” until her younger brother — also an attorney — “told me I needed to do what lawyers do, ‘Go help someone!’”

“Hundreds of someones later,” she added, “I continue to aid non-citizens in our military branches obtain their promised citizenship for serving. It’s been some of the most meaningful work I’ve ever done.”

Through her pro bono work, Beverly has helped approximately 300 individuals in the U.S. military retain their immigration status or complete their naturalization applications so they would have a chance at citizenship. “Their cases came to me as pro bono requests from the American Immigration Lawyers Military Assistance Program.”

“Most of them,” Beverly noted, “have lived their entire lives helping themselves as much as they could, culminating in now being here several years, and wanting to be part of the American experiment and dream. They know what it is like not to live in America. They are smart and funny, philosophic and hardworking, and incredibly devoted to their military careers.” Her work with this group of clients is still ongoing, Beverly added, but now she has fewer than 10 clients whose cases are still in process.

Since March 2022, through her work with NAWJ, Beverly has also been serving as a mentor and residential host for a special group of refugees from Afghanistan — former women judges who are seeking to rebuild their lives and find new careers in the U.S.

Beverly cited her parents as lifelong role models; her late father, Lloyd Cutler, served as White House Counsel during the administrations of Jimmy Carter and Bill Clinton, and her mother, Louise, was active in Democratic Party causes.

Beverly’s commitment to volunteer service extends as well to Westover — she has served as a Secretary for her class since their 1967 graduation.