Judge Bios

The Honorable Anna Blackburne-Rigsby will be sworn in as Chief Judge of the District of Columbia Court of Appeals on March 17, 2017. She will succeed The Honorable Eric T. Washington, who has served as Chief Judge since 2005. Judge Blackburne-Rigsby’s investiture as Chief Judge will take place in the Ceremonial Courtroom of the District of Columbia Court of Appeals Historic Courthouse, 430 E Street, N.W., Washington, D.C. at 4:00 p.m. The Honorable Eric T. Washington, Chief Judge, will preside.
Prior to being designated Chief Judge, Judge Blackburne-Rigsby was nominated by President George W. Bush in August 2006 to serve as an Associate Judge of the District of Columbia Court of Appeals. Previously, Judge Blackburne-Rigsby was nominated by President William Jefferson Clinton to serve as an Associate Judge of the Superior Court of the District of Columbia from 2000-2006. Judge Blackburne-Rigsby also served as a Magistrate Judge of the Superior Court of the District of Columbia from 1995-2000.
Judge Blackburne-Rigsby chairs the District of Columbia Courts’ Standing Committee on Fairness and Access, and serves on the District of Columbia’s Access to Justice Commission. Judge Blackburne-Rigsby is the Chair and Moderator of the National Consortium on Racial and Ethnic Fairness in the Courts and is the Past President of the National Association of Women Judges (NAWJ) for the 2013-2014 term.
Judge Blackburne-Rigsby was born in Washington, D.C. at Freedman’s Hospital at Howard University and spent her early years in Washington, D.C. She attended elementary school and high school in Jamaica, New York. Judge Blackburne-Rigsby graduated from Duke University with a Bachelor of Arts degree in Political Science, and received the Duke University Presidential Leadership Award. Following graduation from Duke University, she was selected to be one of twelve Public Affairs Fellows of the Coro Foundation in San Francisco, California. She earned her law degree from Howard University School of Law in 1987, graduating in the top five percent of her class. While in law school, she served as the Lead Articles Editor of the Howard Law Journal and served as the Co-Captain for the Charles Hamilton Houston Moot Court Team.
Following law school, Judge Blackburne-Rigsby was an associate at the law firm of Hogan Lovells US LLP (formerly Hogan and Hartson) in Washington, D.C., where she litigated commercial, real estate, employment discrimination, and education matters before state and federal courts and administrative agencies. Judge Blackburne-Rigsby later joined the District of Columbia Office of the Corporation Counsel (now District of Columbia Office of the Attorney General), where she served as Special Counsel to the Corporation Counsel, the late John Payton, working as part of the senior management team. She then served as Deputy Corporation Counsel in charge of the Family Services Division, where she managed the Division’s 65 attorneys and support staff, responsible for handling child abuse and neglect, child support enforcement, and domestic violence cases.
Judge Blackburne-Rigsby has taught Trial Advocacy at the Harvard Law School and teaches Professional Responsibility as an Adjunct Professor at the David A. Clarke School of Law at the University of the District of Columbia. She has also taught Continuing Legal Education courses for the District of Columbia Bar. Judge Blackburne-Rigsby has trained judges from other countries in conjunction with the National Center for State Courts and the United States Department of State.
Judge Blackburne-Rigsby has held offices in several judicial organizations. She is a former Chair of the Washington Bar Association’s Judicial Council. In addition to her work with the National Association of Women Judges, she also serves on the Board of Managerial Trustees for the International Association of Women Judges (IAWJ) and served as Chair from 2010-2014. In March of 2006, Judge Blackburne-Rigsby represented the IAWJ at a Judicial Conference in Turin, Italy, where she delivered a speech on Racial Equality in the Workplace at the Lavoro dei Migranti e Discriminazione Convegno. In 2003, she traveled to Johannesburg, South Africa to participate in a conference of the African Judicial Network. In 2014, Judge Blackburne-Rigsby led the delegation of women judges from the United States at the Biennial Conference of the International Association of Women Judges in Arusha, Tanzania. Through her work with these organizations, Judge Blackburne-Rigsby has sought to promote the rule of law and access to justice.
Judge Blackburne-Rigsby has volunteered on the D.C. Rape Crisis Board; she is the former President of the Washington, D.C. Chapter of Jack and Jill of America, Inc.; a member of the Washington, D.C. Chapter of the Links, Inc.; a member of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Inc.; and a lifelong member of the NAACP. She previously served as a Sunday school teacher at Shiloh Baptist Church and coached the girls’ basketball team of St. Gabriel’s Church. Judge Blackburne-Rigsby has received awards for her legal, judicial and community service, including the Business and Professional Women’s League “Sojourner Truth Award”, the Women’s Bar Association of the District of Columbia “2014 Star of the Bar Award”, the National Bar Association “Heman Sweatt Champion of Justice” Award, and the Greater Washington Area Women Lawyers Division (GWAC) Charlotte E. Ray Award.
Judge Blackburne-Rigsby is married to Judge Robert R. Rigsby, Associate Judge of the Superior Court of the District of Columbia, former Corporation Counsel for the District of Columbia, and a retired Colonel and Military Judge of the United States Army Reserves. They are the proud parents of a son in college.

Judge Anna Blackburne-Rigsby will be sworn-in as the 11th Chief Judge of the D.C. Court of Appeals on Friday, March 17, 2017 at 4 p.m. in the Ceremonial Courtroom of the Historic Courthouse at 430 E Street, N.W., Washington, D.C.

If you are unable to attend this ceremony, you can view the proceedings on a live webcast at http://www.dccourts.gov/internet/appellate/oralargsaudio.jsf