The Honorable Erik P. Christian

In 2001, President George W. Bush appointed Judge Erik P. Christian as an Associate Judge to the bench of the Superior Court of the District of Columbia. In 2016, Judge Christian was reappointed to a second fifteen-year term during the administration of President Barack H. Obama following a unanimous “well-qualified” finding by the District of Columbia Commission on Judicial Disabilities and Tenure.

Judge Christian, a native Washingtonian, graduated with distinction from Archbishop John Carroll High School, where he was inducted into the school’s Hall of Honor in 2012. Judge Christian graduated with a Bachelor of Arts Degree in English and Political Science, magna cum laude from Howard University in 1982, where he was selected in his junior year as a member of Phi Beta Kappa, and later inducted into Pi Sigma Alpha. In 1986, Judge Christian received his Juris Doctor degree from Georgetown University Law Center where he has returned as Instructor and speaker at keynote events.

Upon law school graduation, Judge Christian worked as a civil attorney with the law firm Webster & Fredrickson and then served as a judicial law clerk for the Honorable Annice Wagner in the Superior Court of the District of Columbia. In 1989, he joined the U.S. Department of Justice where he was appointed as Assistant United States Attorney for the District of Columbia and then First Assistant U.S. Attorney in the U.S. Virgin Islands in 1995, where he prosecuted several complex homicide trials, as well as served in supervisory and managerial roles over prosecutors and support staff. During his tenure in the U.S. Department of Justice, Judge Christian served as Chairman of the D.C. Court of Appeals’ Committee on the Unauthorized Practice of Law. He also was involved in a variety of other D.C. Bar activities.

Following his service in the United States Attorney’s Office, Judge Christian was appointed in 1999, by D.C. Mayor Anthony A. Williams to serve as Deputy Mayor for Public Safety and Justice, where he oversaw the Metropolitan Police Department, the Fire and Emergency Medical Services Department, the Department of Corrections, the Medical Examiner’s Office, the Emergency Management Agency, and the Office of Justice Grants Management. Judge Christian was later appointed as Legal Counsel to the Mayor where he served until his appointment to the Superior Court bench in 2001. While in the Mayor’s office, Judge Christian reinstituted the Criminal Justice Coordinating Council (CJCC) and worked closely with the Council for Court Excellence (CCE).

As judicial officer, Judge Christian was appointed by the Chief Judge in January 2013, as a member to the Court’s Judicial Leadership Team and as Deputy Presiding Judge of the Probate and Tax Divisions. From January 2015 through December, 2016, he served as the Presiding Judge of the Probate and Tax Divisions. Judge Christian has served as a Trial Judge in every Division of the Court, including the Probate and Tax Divisions, the Civil Division, the Criminal Division, the Family Court, the Domestic Violence Unit, and District of Columbia Traffic Trial Branch. In addition to these assignments, Judge Christian has served as a member on several court committees, including the Superior Court Rules Committee, the Probate and Fiduciary Rules Advisory and Education committees, the Probate and Fiduciary Panel Implementation Committee, the Tax Rules Advisory Committee, the Criminal Rules Advisory Committee, the Criminal Justice Act Panel Implementation Committee, the Superior Court Jury Management Committee, the Court Security Committee, the Buildings and Grounds Committee, the Art Trust Fund Committee, and the Court Interpreters Committee. In 2016, his candidacy was considered for Chief Judge of the Superior Court of the District of Columbia.

Since 2009, Judge Christian also has served as an Adjunct Professor of Trial Advocacy at the Washington College of Law at American University and at the Howard University School of Law where he instructs on both Civil and Criminal Trial Advocacy.

Judge Christian is a Life Member of the Washington Bar Association. From 2004 to 2005, Judge Christian served as Chairman of the Judicial Council of the Washington Bar Association. In 2015, the Washington Bar Association recognized his continued service and significant contributions to the cause of equal justice under the law and to the bar and community and inducted him into its Hall of Fame membership. Judge Christian has received numerous other awards and honors.