The Honorable John P. Howard III

Judge John P. Howard III was appointed to the District of Columbia Court of Appeals in 2022 by President Joseph R. Biden. Judge Howard was born in Greenville, South Carolina. He received his B.A. from Howard University, where he also served on the Board of Trustees and was a U.C. Berkeley Public Policy & International Affairs Fellow. Before law school, Judge Howard completed a fellowship, conducting work in Louisiana following Hurricanes Katrina and Rita and working with the National Conference of State Legislatures.

Judge Howard earned his J.D. from the Georgetown University Law Center. During law school he was active in pro bono work, served as a research assistant, and co-captained the Willem C. Vis Moot Team. He served as a judicial clerk for Chief Judge David C. Simmons of the D.C. Commission on Human Rights, and Judge Alexander Williams, Jr. of the U.S. District Court for the District of Maryland. After clerking, Judge Howard joined the D.C. Office of Akin, Gump, Strauss, Hauer & Feld LLP. He later moved to Houston, Texas, where he engaged in solo practice.

Judge Howard first joined the bench as an administrative law judge at the D.C. Commission on Human Rights, where he served from 2014 to 2018. From 2018 until his appointment, he was a judge at the D.C. Office of Administrative Hearings, where he led the creation of its judicial clerkship program. Judge Howard is an officer of the Washington Bar Association Judicial Council and a past President of the D.C. Association of the Administrative Law Judiciary.

Judge Howard is married to Brandi G. Howard, and they have one child.