Amalya L. Kearse is a United States Circuit Judge of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit. At the time of her appointment in 1979, she was a partner in the New York law firm of Hughes, Hubbard & Reed.

Judge Kearse received her B.A. degree from Wellesley College in 1959, and her J.D. degree from the University of Michigan Law School in 1962.

She practiced law with the New York firm of Hughes, Hubbard & Reed from 1962 to 1979, becoming a partner in 1969. She also served as an adjunct lecturer at the New York University School of Law from 1968 to 1969.

In 1979, Judge Kearse became the first woman to be elected to a fellowship in the American College of Trial Lawyers. She was a member of the University of Michigan Law School Committee of Visitors from 1971 to 1979.

Judge Kearse is a native of Vauxhall, New Jersey.