The Honorable Kaye K. Christian

President George H.W. Bush appointed the Honorable Kaye K. Christian to the Superior Court of the District of Columbia in 1990. Judge Christian served as an Associate Judge of the Superior Court until her retirement in December 2010, at which time she assumed the status of Senior Judge.

Judge Christian was born in Lynchburg, Virginia. She attended the public schools in the District of Columbia until her graduation from Dunbar Senior High School in 1971. She earned a Bachelor of Arts Degree in American Government in 1975 from Georgetown University and a Juris Doctor Degree in 1978 from Georgetown University Law Center. Judge Christian was the first recipient of the Georgetown University Benjamin Banneker Scholarship in 1971.

After graduating from law school, Judge Christian began her legal career with the Office of General Counsel, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). The following year, she served as law clerk to the Honorable Henry H. Kennedy, Jr. After completing her judicial clerkship, Judge Christian joined the Office of the Corporation Counsel for the District of Columbia (now Office of the Attorney General). As a trial assistant, she prosecuted juvenile delinquents; child abuse and neglect matters; domestic violence; and abuse and neglect of the elderly. In 1983, Judge Christian was promoted to supervisor of trial attorneys with the Intra-Family Offense Unit of the Office of the Corporation Counsel where she remained until 1987. In 1987, Judge Christian was sworn in as a Hearing Commissioner (now Magistrate Judge) for the Superior Court of the District of Columbia where she presided in the Civil, Criminal and Family Divisions of the Court.

Since her appointment as an Associate Judge in 1990, Judge Christian has served in every division of the Superior Court. She served as Presiding and Deputy Presiding Judge of the Probate and Tax Divisions of the Court from 2001 to 2003 and 1996 to 1999 respectively. She also served as Deputy Presiding Judge of the Family Division (now Family Court) from 2000 to 2001. As a Senior Judge, Judge Christian is currently assigned to the Civil, Probate and Tax Divisions of the Superior Court.

Her professional and bar affiliations include the Bar of the Supreme Court of the United States of America, the National Association of Women Judges, the District of Columbia Bar, the Bar Association of the District of Columbia, the Judicial Council of the Washington Bar Association and the Women’s Bar Association.

Judge Christian served as a member of the Joint Committee on Judicial Administration; Chairperson of the Committee on the Utilization of Magistrate and Senior Judges; a member of the Committee on the Selection and Tenure of Magistrate Judges; and a member of the Standing Committee on Fairness and Access to the District of Columbia Courts. Judge Christian served as Chair of the Superior Court of the District of Columbia Adoption Advisory Rules Subcommittee; Co-Chair of the 2007 Adoption Day Planning Committee; and a member of the Family Court Implementation Committee.

Judge Christian has received a number of awards for judicial excellence and community service including: the Award of Appreciation for Contributions to the Bench and Bar presented by the Estates, Trusts and Probate Law Section of the District of Columbia Bar; the Award of Judicial Excellence presented by the American Bar Association, Judicial Division; the Special Recognition Award for Judicial Independence presented by the Bar Association of the District of Columbia; the H. Carl Moultrie Award for Judicial Excellence presented by the Trial Lawyers Association of Metropolitan Washington, D.C.; the President’s Award presented by the National Association of Women Judges, District 4; the Volunteer Service Award presented by the District of Columbia Public Schools; the Public Service Award presented by the District of Columbia; the Angels in Adoption Award presented by the Congressional Coalition on Adoption Institute; the Star of the Bar Award presented by the Women’s Bar Association of the District of Columbia; a Certificate of Appreciation from the Estates, Trusts and Probate Law Section of the District of Columbia Bar; an award from the District of Columbia Department of Insurance, Securities and Banking's Bank on DC program for work with the Marion S. Barry Summer Youth Employment Program; and the 2013 Paul Laurence Dunbar Senior High School Living Legend Award.

Judge Christian is married and has one son. Judge Christian has taught Sunday School at Mt. Olive Baptist Church for over fifty (50) years. In addition to teaching children, Judge Christian often conducts training workshops for senior citizens and youths in the community.