Emily Ruth Black is an American attorney best known as the first wife of Robert F. Kennedy Jr. The two met as law students and married in 1982, going on to have two children together before divorcing in 1994. Outside of that connection, Black built her own legal career, working as a criminal defense lawyer in New York during the early years of her marriage.
| Full name | Emily Ruth Black |
|---|---|
| Also known as | Emily Ruth Kennedy (during marriage) |
| Nationality | American |
| Profession | Attorney |
| Education | Indiana University (1978); University of Virginia School of Law |
| Married | April 3, 1982 (to Robert F. Kennedy Jr.) |
| Divorced | 1994 |
| Children | Bobby Kennedy III; Kathleen Alexandra “Kick” Kennedy |
Who Is Emily Ruth Black?
Emily Ruth Black is an Indiana-born attorney who came to wider public attention through her marriage to Robert F. Kennedy Jr. During the marriage she was also known as Emily Ruth Kennedy. She has remained a private individual and has not sought a public profile in her own right.
Contemporary reporting from UPI identified her clearly as a Legal Aid Society lawyer in the early 1980s, which places her firmly in the legal profession from the outset of her career. Beyond that professional identity, she is not a public figure, and credible information about her focuses primarily on her education, early career, and family.
Education and Early Legal Career
Black graduated from Indiana University in 1978. She then went on to study law at the University of Virginia School of Law, where she crossed paths with Robert F. Kennedy Jr. Both were law students there at the same time, which is how the relationship began.
After completing her legal education, Black passed the New York bar examination in July 1982. UPI reporting from 1984 described her as a criminal defense lawyer working with the Manhattan Legal Aid Society, a role that placed her among attorneys providing legal representation to clients who could not afford private counsel. A New York attorney directory also lists an Emily Ruth Black associated with the University of Virginia School of Law, which is consistent with the broader record of her legal credentials.
Her Marriage to Robert F. Kennedy Jr.
Black and Kennedy married on April 3, 1982, in Bloomington, Indiana. At the time of the wedding, both were working in New York — she at the Manhattan Legal Aid Society, he beginning his own legal career in the city. The marriage lasted approximately twelve years. They divorced in 1994.
Kennedy is the son of the late Senator Robert F. Kennedy and a prominent environmental attorney and political figure in his own right. His subsequent public life has kept him regularly in the news, which is the primary reason his former wife’s name continues to attract reader interest.
Emily Black’s Children and Family
Black and Kennedy had two children during their marriage. Their son, Bobby Kennedy III, and their daughter, Kathleen Alexandra “Kick” Kennedy, are both members of the extended Kennedy family and have maintained their own public profiles over the years.
After the divorce, Kennedy went on to marry Mary Richardson and later Cheryl Hines. Black has not been a visible part of his subsequent public story.
Her Life in Law
What is reliably documented about Emily Ruth Black centers on her legal education and her early work as a criminal defense attorney in Manhattan. Her time with the Legal Aid Society placed her in one of the country’s best-known public defense organizations, handling cases for clients who depended on appointed counsel.
For readers interested in the broader Kennedy family, First Business Mag covers profiles of notable figures and their family connections across American public life.
Emily Ruth Black’s place in the public record is tied largely to her years with Robert F. Kennedy Jr. What stands on its own — her education at Indiana University and the University of Virginia School of Law, her bar admission in New York, and her work as a criminal defense lawyer — reflects a professional life built on her own terms, even if the details of that career beyond the early 1980s remain out of the public view.
