The Honorable Eric T. Washington

The Honorable Eric T. Washington was appointed Chief Judge of the District of Columbia Court of Appeals in 2005 and served three consecutive four-year terms as Chief Judge and as Chair of the Joint Committee on Judicial Administration for the District of Columbia. Prior to being designated as Chief Judge, he was an Associate Judge of the District of Columbia Court of Appeals, and before that, he served as a trial judge on the D.C. Superior Court. During his tenure as Chief Judge, Washington initiated live streaming of oral arguments; instituted a new case management system allowing for electronic accessibility to court dockets; and significantly reduced the time on appeal for cases filed. In addition, Judge Washington co-authored a paper on sustainable court governance for the Harvard Executive Session.

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. Judge Washington also championed pretrial justice reform efforts across the country. He has been active in many professional, civic, and charitable organizations and served 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. Judge Washington also served as a member of the D.C. Courts’ Standing Committee on Fairness and Access and the D.C. Access to Justice Commission.

Before joining the D.C. Courts, Judge Washington was a partner with the law firm Hogan & Hartson (now Hogan Lovells) and 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 U.S. 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.