The District of Columbia Judicial Nomination Commission (the “Commission”) is pleased to announce a public forum to meet and hear from the members of the Commission and from a panel of judges of the District of Columbia Court of Appeals and Superior Court of the District of Columbia. The forum will be held on September 12, 2013, from 5 to 7 pm, at the District of Columbia Court of Appeals, Historic Courthouse, 430 E Street, NW, Second Floor, Courtroom 1, Washington, DC 20001.Members of the bench, bar, and public are encouraged to attend. Light refreshments will be served.

The public forum is designed to answer questions from members of the public who aspire to be judges, who contemplate applying for future judicial vacancies, or who desire information about how judges are nominated and appointed to the District of Columbia courts. The forum will include a question and answer session.

The Commissioners will discuss qualifications for judicial applicants, the application process, and the selection of nominees. The Commissioners will also discuss the function of the Commission and its role in the nomination process.

The judicial panel will discuss pathways to the bench, the day-to-day work of a judge, and the various divisions in which a judge might serve. The judicial panel will also describe the rewards of public service from the perspective of a judicial officer.

The judicial panel includes District of Columbia Court of Appeals Judges Roy McLeese, the former Chief of the Appellate Division of the United States Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia, and Phyllis Thompson, formerly a partner at Covington & Burling, along with Superior Court of the District of Columbia Judges Gregory Jackson, the former General Counsel for the District of Columbia Department of Corrections, Michael O’Keefe, a former solo private practitioner, Heidi Pasichow, a former senior Assistant United States Attorney in the United States Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia, Yvonne Williams, former Counsel at Miller & Chevalier Chartered, and Melvin Wright, former principal attorney with Montedonico, Hamilton & Altman, PC. District of Columbia Bar Association Immediate Past President and Partner at Covington and Burling Thomas S. Williamson, Jr. will moderate the panels.

Questions concerning the Commission or the public forum shall be directed to the Commission’s Executive Director at (202) 879-0478 or [email protected].