The Honorable John M. Steadman

Judge John M. Steadman was appointed as an Associate Judge of the District of Columbia Court of Appeals on June 27, 1985 by President Ronald Reagan upon confirmation of his nomination by the United States Senate. Judge Steadman was reappointed for an additional term as an Associate Judge in the year 2000 and, upon reaching mandatory retirement age, was appointed as a Senior Judge in October 2004, a position he continues to hold.

Judge Steadman was born in Honolulu, Hawaii, on August 8, 1930, and grew up there. He graduated from Yale College with a B.A. in 1952 and from Harvard Law School with an LLB, magna cum laude, in 1955, where he was an editor of the Harvard Law Review. He was awarded a Sinclair-Kennedy Traveling Fellowship from 1955–56. From 1956 to 1963 he was an associate with the San Francisco law firm of Pillsbury Madison & Sutro.

In the fall of 1963, Judge Steadman moved to Washington, D.C., to a position in the Office of Legal Counsel of the United States Department of Justice. Thereafter, he served as Deputy Undersecretary of the Army (International Affairs) 1964–65, The Special Assistant to the Secretary of Defense 1965–68, and General Counsel of the Department of the Air Force 1968–70.

Upon leaving government service, Judge Steadman was a visiting professor of law at the University of Pennsylvania Law School 1970–72 and a professor of law at Georgetown University Law Center 1972–85. He was also associate academic dean at Georgetown in the years 1978–84. Among the many courses that he taught during his academic career were Property, Commercial Law, Government Contracts, Administrative Law, and Local Government Law.

While on the court, Judge Steadman has served on numerous committees, including the Joint Committee on Judicial Administration, the Advisory Committee on Judicial Conduct, the Court Technology Committee, the Library Committee, and the Planning Committee for the Judicial Conference. For many years, Judge Steadman also served as a court liaison to the Committee on Unauthorized Practice of Law.