Renee Raymond and Sean Staples have been appointed magistrate judges and will join the Superior Court of the District of Columbia this January.  As soon as they have completed their training, they will begin their assignments in the Domestic Violence Unit (Raymond) and the Family Court (Staples). 
 
Magistrate Judge Renee Raymond is a native of South Central Los Angeles.  She graduated from Yale College with honors in English Literature.  Judge Raymond received her J.D. at New York University Law School where she was the recipient of the Greene Award for Preeminent Achievement in the Art of Advocacy.  She has been with the DC Public Defender Service (PDS) for over 20 years.  During her tenure at PDS, Judge Raymond represented both juvenile and adult clients.  For more than fifteen years she represented adults charged with homicides and the most serious sex cases, including many high profile cases.  Judge Raymond was Training Director at PDS from 2006 through early 2010, developing, organizing, and implementing an eight week training program for new PDS attorneys.  Judge Raymond is a regular guest faculty member of Harvard Law School's Trial Advocacy Workshop.  In addition, Judge Raymond has been a guest lecturer or panelist at several area law schools on a range of topics designed to educate law students and inspire them to consider a career in public service.  Judge Raymond is an adjunct professor at Washington College of Law.  
 
Magistrate Judge Sean Staples is a native of Poughkeepsie, NY and received his undergraduate degree from Syracuse University.  He served as a legislative assistant and assistant press secretary to Congressman Hamilton Fish (R-NY).  Judge Staples received his law degree magna cum laude from The Catholic University of America Columbus School of Law and then clerked for Judge Morin.  He comes to the court from the Children’s Law Center (CLC), where he served as the GAL Project Director, managing over half of CLC’s 80 person staff.  Prior to joining CLC, Judge Staples was a clinical professor in the criminal division of the DC Law Students in Court program, teaching criminal trial practice and procedure and supervising law students in the representation of adults and juveniles in DC Superior Court.  He previously worked as an assistant public defender in Fairfax, VA and as a sole practitioner.