​Barbara Kerr Howe was educated in Maryland and then received a B.A. degree from Randolph Macon Woman’s College.  She attended the University of Maryland Law School and received a J.D. degree in 1969.  After being admitted to the Bar in 1969,  she joined the law practice of Kerr and Kerr, which became Kerr Kerr and Howe in 1975.  

While practicing law, she served as a Zoning Hearing Examiner in Harford County from 1979-1985.

In 1985 she was appointed as an Associate Judge for the District Court of Maryland for Baltimore County. In 1988 she was appointed as the first woman to serve as an Associate Judge for the Circuit Court for Baltimore County.

In 2001, she retired and now serves as a Senior Judge on Recall in many jurisdictions in Maryland.  She has served in the Settlement Court for Baltimore County since 2001.

Her private mediation and arbitration practice began in 2001 and was ended in September 2021.

She has been active in many Bar Associations including the Maryland State Bar Association (President 1996-1997),the American Bar Association  (State Delegate for two years), Women’s Bar Association, and the Women’s Law Center.

She served on the Board of Trustees of the Community College of Baltimore County for a five year term and was its Chair from 2008-2010.

From February 2004 to August 2004 she served as the Chair of the Committee to Investigate Possible Criminal Wrongdoing in the Baltimore City Public School System.

​