The District of Columbia Judicial Nomination Commission (Commission) has forwarded to the President the names of the six lawyers below for his consideration in selecting nominees to fill the judicial vacancies on the Superior Court of the District of Columbia created by the retirements of the Honorable Zoe A. Bush and the Honorable Thomas J. Motley. The President has sixty (60) days to select nominees to fill these vacancies.
The Commission recommends the following candidates to fill Judge Bush’s vacancy:
Magdalena Acevedo, Esq. has been a practicing attorney for 17 years, with the last eight years as an Assistant United States Attorney in the Criminal Division of the U.S. Attorney's Office for the District of Columbia, representing the United States in criminal matters before the Superior Court of the District of Columbia, the District of Columbia Court of Appeals, and the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia. From 2001 through 2007, Ms. Acevedo served as an active duty Army Judge Advocate. In 2003, Ms. Acevedo deployed to Iraq in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom where she provided legal advice on the law of war, including the rules of engagement. She also managed criminal justice matters for the unit's 37,000 soldiers, and traveled throughout the country to meet with judges and help reestablish the rule of law and reopen the local courts. In 2004, Ms. Acevedo was transferred to the Washington, D.C. area to work on criminal appeals before the Army Court of Criminal Appeals and the Court of Appeals for the Armed Forces. Ms. Acevedo volunteers as a guardian ad litem through the District of Columbia Volunteer Lawyers. She received a Bachelor of Arts degree from Michigan State University in 1995 and a Juris Doctor degree from Indiana University School of LawBloomington in 2000.
Hon. Tanya M. Jones Bosier serves as a Magistrate Judge in the Superior Court of the District of Columbia. Prior to her appointment, Judge Jones Bosier served as an Assistant General Counsel for the D.C. Courts, and prior to that as an Assistant General Counsel for the D.C. Office of the Attorney General (OAG). While at OAG, Judge Jones Bosier gained extensive experience in abuse and neglect, administrative, child support, domestic relations, domestic violence, public benefits, and procurement law and intervention proceedings. Judge Jones Bosier was instrumental in the growth of the Family Court’s Fathering Court Initiative and the formation of the Name Change Calendar. Judge Jones Bosier is active in the D.C. Bar and other voluntary bar associations. She has also taught as an adjunct professor at American University’s Washington College of Law (WCL). Judge Jones Bosier received a Bachelor of Arts degree, cum laude, from Syracuse University and a Juris Doctor degree from WCL. Upon graduating from law school, Judge Jones Bosier clerked for the Honorable Zoe A. Bush of the Superior Court of the District of Columbia.
Caroline Swift Platt, Esq. has been an appellate attorney in the Federal Public Defender's Office since 2009, briefing and arguing cases before the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit on behalf of indigent criminal defendants charged in the Eastern District of Virginia. Ms. Platt previously practiced as a white collar criminal defense associate at Nixon Peabody, LLP in Washington, D.C. Ms. Platt received a Bachelor of Arts degree in History from Georgetown University and a Juris Doctor degree, magna cum laude, from Georgetown University Law Center. While in law school, Ms. Platt participated in the Criminal Justice Clinic and served as a senior editor on the board of the Georgetown Law Journal. Ms. Platt is a member of, and the administrator of, the Edward Bennett Williams Inn of Court. Upon graduating from law school, Ms. Platt clerked for the Honorable Paul L. Friedman of the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia and thereafter for the Honorable Janice Rogers Brown of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit.
The Commission recommends the following candidates to fill Judge Motley’s vacancy:
Kelly A. Higashi, Esq. is an Assistant United States Attorney (AUSA), serving for the past 14 years as the Chief of the Sex Offense and Domestic Violence Section at the U.S. Attorney's Office in the District of Columbia. Ms. Higashi leads 38 prosecutors who specialize in the prosecution of sexual assaults, domestic violence, child abuse, stalking, human trafficking, online child exploitation, and sex offender registration offenses in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia and the Superior Court of the District of Columbia. During her 22 years as an AUSA, Ms. Higashi has investigated and tried numerous criminal cases in both courts, including some of the most serious domestic violence and sexual assault cases, involving both adult and child victims. Ms. Higashi received a Bachelor of Arts degree in History from the University of Pennsylvania, and a Juris Doctor degree from George Washington University School of Law. Upon graduating from law school, she clerked for the Honorable Frederick H. Weisberg of the Superior Court of the District of Columbia.
Hon. Heide L. Herrmann serves as a Magistrate Judge in the Superior Court of the District of Columbia. Prior to her appointment, Judge Herrmann worked in the private and public sectors, first as an associate with Hahn Loeser & Parks, in Cleveland, Ohio, and, beginning in 2000, for the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ), where she worked for sixteen years. Judge Herrmann served as a Trial Attorney in the DOJ Civil Division’s Commercial Litigation Branch, the Environment and Natural Resources Division’s Natural Resources Section, and the Civil Division’s Consumer Protection Branch. From 2008 through 2014, Judge Herrmann served as an Assistant United States Attorney in the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia, where she prosecuted sex offenses and domestic violence crimes in the Superior Court of the District of Columbia. Judge Herrmann received a Bachelor of Arts degree in Environmental Geology and English, cum laude, from Case Western Reserve University, and a Juris Doctor degree, cum laude, from Case Western Reserve School of Law. Upon graduating from law school, she clerked for the Honorable Solomon Oliver Jr. of the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Ohio.
Hon. Kenia Seoane Lopez serves as a Magistrate Judge in the Superior Court of the District of Columbia. Prior to her appointment, she served as a Bilingual Attorney Negotiator in the Domestic Violence Unit of the Superior Court. Before joining the Court, she served an Assistant Attorney General in the Legal Services Section of the Child Support Division in the D.C. Office of Attorney General. Judge Seoane Lopez is a Board Member of the Spanish Education Development Center, the Hispanic Bar Association of D.C. Foundation, and is a former president of the Hispanic Bar Association of the District of Columbia. Judge Seoane Lopez is the current Chair of the Hispanic Bar Association of the District of Columbia Judicial Council and was recently appointed by Chief Judge Morin to the District of Columbia’s Child Support Guideline Commission. Judge Seoane Lopez received a Bachelor of Science degree in Criminal Justice, cum laude, from Northeastern University, a Masters of Arts in Latin American, Caribbean, and Iberian Studies from the University of Wisconsin Graduate School, and a Juris Doctor degree from the University of Wisconsin Law School. Upon graduating from law school, Judge Seoane Lopez clerked for the Massachusetts Superior Court and then for the Superior Court of the District of Columbia.
Please direct any questions to the Commission at (202) 879-0477 or [email protected].
Members of the District of Columbia Judicial Nomination Commission
Honorable Emmet G. Sullivan, Chair
United States District Court for the District of Columbia
United States Courthouse
333 Constitution Avenue, NW
Chambers 4935-Annex
Washington, DC 20001
(202) 354-3260
[email protected]
Ronald S. Flagg, Esq.
Legal Services Corporation
3333 K Street, NW
Washington, DC 20007
(202) 295-1620
[email protected]
Mr. William Lucy
1831 Sudbury Lane, NW
Washington, DC 20012
(301) 520-0576
[email protected]
John J. McAvoy, Esq.
3110 Brandywine Street, NW
Washington, DC 20008
(202) 966-8544
[email protected]
Addy R. Schmitt, Esq.
Miller & Chevalier, Chtd.
900 16th Street, NW
Washington, DC 20006
(202)626-5837
[email protected]
The Honorable Marie C. Johns
Leftwich LLC
1400 K Street, NW
Suite 1000
Washington, DC 20005-2403
(202) 434-9124
[email protected]
Benjamin F. Wilson, Esq.
Beveridge & Diamond, PC
1350 I St NW, #700
Washington, DC 20005
(202) 789-6023
[email protected]