Seals of the Court of Appeals and Superior Court
District of Columbia Courts

Public Defender to be Sworn in as Court of Appeals Judge

Date
February 06, 2012

WHAT: Investiture of Catharine Easterly 
 
WHEN: Friday, February 10, 2012 at 4:00 pm 
 
WHERE: Ceremonial Courtroom Historic Courthouse  430 E Street, NW 
 
WHO:  Chief Judge Eric Washington, presiding; Timothy O’ Toole, of Miller & Chevalier, DC; Gabrielle Tenzer, of Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison, NYC   


Biography:

Judge Easterly was born in Boston, Massachusetts, but spent most of her childhood in Richmond, Virginia.  She received her B.A., cum laude and with Distinction in History, from Yale College in 1992, and her J.D. from the University of Virginia School of Law in 1996.     
 
After graduating from law school, Judge Easterly worked as an appellate public defender, first at the Legal Aid Society of Nassau County, New York, and then at the Office of the Appellate Defender in New York City.  She then joined the New York firm Stillman and Friedman, P.C. as an associate, where she represented the Metropolitan Opera among others. 
 
In 2003 Judge Easterly joined the Special Litigation Division of the Public Defender Service for the District of Columbia (PDS), where she worked until her appointment to the Court of Appeals.  While at PDS, she argued appeals in the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit, and filed numerous amicus briefs on behalf of PDS and others in the Supreme Court of the United States.  She litigated civil suits and habeas petitions in United States District Court for the District of Columbia, and assisted PDS’s Trial Division with the litigation of complex criminal justice issues that arose in the Superior Court of the District of Columbia.  She also worked closely with PDS’s General Counsel and Legislative Counsel on legislative and policy matters.  
Judge Easterly is married and is the mother of two daughters.  She lives on Capitol Hill. 

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For more information contact Leah Gurowitz at (202) 879-1700