Chief Judge Anna Blackburne-Rigsby
Bio
The Honorable Anna Blackburne-Rigsby was appointed Chief Judge of the District
of Columbia Court of Appeals in March 2017. Chief Judge Blackburne-Rigsby chairs the
Joint Committee on Judicial Administration for the District of Columbia court system.
Chief Judge Blackburne-Rigsby served as President of the National Conference of Chief
Justices (CCJ) and as Chair of the Board of Directors of the National Center for State
Courts (NCSC) for the 2023-2024 term. She chairs the Conference of Chief Justices (CCJ)
and Conference of State Court Administrators (COSCA) Committee of Public Trust and
Confidence in State Courts and chairs the national AI Governance and Ethics work group of the NCSC/TRI AI Consortium for Law and Courts. Chief Judge Blackburne-Rigsby led the establishment of the DC Courts AI Taskforce and also the establishment of the DC Courts Regulatory Reform Taskforce to examine innovative ways to expand access to justice. Under her leadership of the Joint Committee on Judicial Administration, the DC Courts have been at the forefront of innovations to improve the administration of justice.
Chief Judge Anna Blackburne-Rigsby has served as a judge on the trial and
appellate level of the D.C. Courts. Prior to being designated Chief Judge, Chief Judge
Blackburne-Rigsby was nominated by President George W. Bush in August 2006 to serve as an Associate Judge of the District of Columbia Court of Appeals. Before that, she was nominated by President William Jefferson Clinton to serve as an Associate Judge of the Superior Court of the District of Columbia from 2000-2006, and she previously served as a Magistrate Judge on the Superior Court of the District of Columbia from 1995-2000.
Previously, she served in the D.C. Attorney General’s Office and worked in private practice at the law firm of Hogan Lovells, LLC. She served as a Commissioner on the District of Columbia’s Access to Justice Commission and served as Chair of the District of Columbia Courts’ Standing Committee on Fairness and Access. Chief Judge Blackburne-Rigsby received her B.A. from Duke University in Political Science and received the Presidential Leadership Award. She received her Law degree from Howard University School of Law where she served as Lead Articles Editor for the Howard Law Journal.
Chief Judge Blackburne-Rigsy has taught Trial Advocacy at Harvard Law School and Legal Ethics at Georgetown Law School and the University of the District of Columbia David A. Clarke School of Law. Additionally, she has trained judges in Europe, Latin America, the Caribbean and Africa.
Details
Phone number
Clerkships & Internships
Clerkships
Chief Judge Anna Blackburne-Rigsby employs three law clerks each term in chambers and is currently accepting clerkship applications for two openings for the 2026-2027 term. Chief Judge Blackburne-Rigsby is interested in candidates with diverse backgrounds and experiences, including candidates with prior clerkship experience, prior legal work experience, or work experience prior to law school.
Law clerks usually serve a term of one year, and will generally start in late August or early September. However, there is some flexibility for start dates.
Chief Judge Blackburne-Rigsby accepts applications from law school graduates and third year law students. Similar to the federal law clerk hiring plan, second year law students should apply after the second Monday of June at the end of their second year. Second year students may apply before spring grades are released, but should supplement their packet with updated transcripts.
Applicants should submit a cover letter, resume, law school transcript, writing sample, and three references or letters of recommendation. Please email your application materials to BRclerkship[at]dcappeals[dot]gov. Letters of recommendation may be submitted separately, if necessary, to the email address listed above. When submitting supplemental materials please include in the subject line of the email the word “Supplemental.”
If you have any questions, please contact the chambers of Chief Judge Blackburne-Rigsby at (202) 879-2731.
Internships
Chief Judge Blackburne-Rigsby accepts applications from law students and recent law graduates for non-paid judicial internships or judicial externships for Fall, Spring, and Summer semesters. Candidates should submit a cover letter, resume, law school transcript, writing sample, and three references or letter of recommendation. Some law schools also provide course credit for internships and externships. The deadline to submit applications for Summer 2025 is March 1, 2025.
Please email your application materials to BRclerkship [at] dcappeals.gov. When submitting supplemental materials please include in the subject line of the email the word “Supplemental.”
If you have any questions, please contact the chambers of Chief Judge Blackburne-Rigsby at (202) 879-2731.