Judge Bios

Judge Robert I. Richter was appointed to the Superior Court of the District of Columbia in 1984 by President Ronald Reagan. After serving thirty years on the bench, Judge Richter took senior status in 2014.

Born in New York City, Judge Richter received his Bachelor of Arts degree, magna cum laude, from the University of Vermont in 1969. He graduated at the top of his class from the University of Chicago Law School in 1972, where he served as a comment editor of the Law Review.

Following law school, Judge Richter spent one year as a law clerk to the Honorable Irving L. Goldberg of the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit. The following year, he served as a law clerk to the Honorable Harry A. Blackmun of the Supreme Court of the United States.

From 1974 to 1975, Judge Richter was an associate of the Washington, D.C. law firm of Shea & Gardner, where he engaged in a general civil litigation practice. In August 1975, he became an Assistant United States Attorney for the District of Columbia. In that position for a little more than three years, he prosecuted scores of criminal cases in the Superior Court ranging from misdemeanor violations to murder and rape cases. He also briefed and argued over thirty appeals in the local and federal courts of appeal.

In October 1978, Judge Richter assumed the position of Assistant Chief of
Operations in the Public Integrity Section of the Criminal Division at the United States Department of Justice. In this position, he was one of four supervisors in a twenty-five attorney office, whose mission was to prosecute significant political corruption cases throughout the country. In addition to supervising the work of other trial attorneys, Judge Richter personally handled several very sensitive criminal investigations involving high officials in all three branches of the federal government. At the Department of Justice, Judge Richter received two Special Commendation Awards.

Judge Richter is married to Linda Kay Davis, who is also a Senior Judge for the Superior Court of the District of Columbia. They have three children.