Recently, Chief Judge Washington co-authored a paper on sustainable court governance for the Harvard Executive Session. Chief Judge Washington, a past President of the Conference of Chief Justices of the United States, is a nationally recognized leader on Access to Justice Issues and works tirelessly to raise awareness of the importance of the rule of law and the role of the courts in our democracy. Presently, Chief Judge Washington is championing pretrial justice reform efforts across the country. He has been active in many professional, civic and charitable organizations and currently serves on the Board of Directors for the National Center for State Courts, the Boys and Girls Clubs of Greater Washington Foundation, and the National Courts and Science Institute. He has served on several committees of the D. C. Bar, including the Criminal Justice Act/Counsel for Child Abuse and Neglect Committee, and the Standing Committee on the Federal Judiciary. Chief Judge Washington has also served as a member of the D. C. Courts’ Standing Committee on Fairness and Access and the D. C. Access to Justice Commission.

Prior to his appointment as a judge, Chief Judge Washington was a partner with the law firm Hogan & Hartson (now Hogan Lovells). Chief Judge Washington has also served as the Principal Deputy Corporation Counsel in the Office of Corporation Counsel (1987-89) (now the Office of the D. C. Attorney General) as well as Legislative Director and Counsel to US Congressman Michael A. Andrews (Texas) (1983-87). He began his legal career as an associate attorney with the Law Firm of Fulbright & Jaworski in Houston, Texas. He is a graduate of Tufts University, and the Columbia University School of Law.