Judge Bios

Mrs. Terrell was born in Jacksonville, Florida and raised in Akron, Ohio. She received

her B.A. degree in 1966 from Howard University in Washington, D.C.; her Masters in 1969

from Antioch College in Yellow Springs, Ohio; and her Juris Doctorate in 1980 from the

Georgetown University Law Center in Washington, D.C. She has been a District of

Columbia resident for over 25 years.

Between 1974 and 1980, Mrs. Terrell designed and directed the Washington Urban

League’s Dix Street Academy in Northeast Washington. It was designed to proved an

alternative education for youths who were either pushed out or dropped out of District of

Columbia public schools. From 1975 to 1980, Mrs. Terrell attended the Georgetown

University Law Center in the evening while she was the director of the Dix Street

Academy.

From 1979 to 1980, Mrs. Terrell was a consultant to the National Street Law Institute

in Washington, D.C. She helped develop the first National Street Law Diversion Project,

which was created to prevent youth between the ages of 13 adn 16 who were under a

judicial consent decree from entering the criminal justice system.

From 1980 to 1983, Mrs. Terrell worked for the Council of the District of Columbia as

th Executive Assistant to Council Chairman Arrington Dixon.

From 1984 to 1989 Mrs. Terrell was an Assistant United States Attorney, Mrs.

Terrell coordinated the United States Attorney’s Office Drug Awareness Program to train

other Assistant United States Attorneys to be advocates for youth.

Mrs. Terrell worked for the Federal home Loan Bank Board in 1989, where she

managed teams of attorneys throughout the United States on intricate litigation matters in

which millions of dollars were recovered for the United States Treasury.

In 1991, Mrs. Terrell was nominated by Mayor Sharon Pratt Kelly, and confirmed by

the Council of the District of Columbia, to serve on the three-member Temporary Panel of

the Office of Employee Appeals. This panel was established to hear appeals of those

persons who positions were abolished as a result of a reduction-in-force. Mrs. Terrell

served on the panel until 1993.

Between 1989 and 1990, Mrs. Terrell worked at the Resolution Trust Corporation

Division of Legal Services as Counsel in the Litigation Section. From 1990 to 1992, she

worked as the Resolution Trust Corporation’s Counsel in its Division of Legal Services’s

Corporate Affairs Section. In July, 1992, she was promoted to the Executive Level

position of Senior Counsel in the Minority and Women Outreach Unit in the Outside

Counsel Management Section of the Division of Legal Services. As Senior Counsel, she

was the highest ranking African American in the Resolution Trust Corporation Division of

Legal Services. At the Resolution Trust Corporation, she gained substantial experience in

management, and in handling complex civil litigation.

Mrs. Terrell was transferred from the Division of Legal Services in November, 1992

to the Division of Minority and Women’s Programs as the Senior Counsel/Director of the

Department of Legal Programs. She held this position until the Resolution Trust

Corporation completed its mission and closed on December 31, 1995. Her primary

responsibilities included developing policies and procedures to ensure that minority-andwomen-

owned law firms were given an opportunity to participate in Resolution Trust

Corporation legal contracting activity to the maximum extent possible. At its height, the

Resolution Trust Corporation was a tremendous source of work for the nation’s legal

community, paying in excess of $350 million annually.

Mrs. Terrell managed the Washington Headquarters of the Division of Legal

Services. She supervised a staff of 30, half of whom were attorneys.

From January, 1996 to March, 1997, Mrs. Terrell worked at the Federal Deposit

Insurance Corporation in Washington, D.C. as its Associate Director in the Legal Programs

Branch, Office of Equal Opportunity. From April 1997 until recently, Mrs. Terrell was the

ensure that minority-and-women-owned law firms were given an opportunity to participate

in Resolution Trust Corporation legal contracting activity to the maximum extent possible.

At its height, the Resolution Trust Corporation was a tremendous source of work for the

nation’s legal community, paying in excess of $350 million annually.

Mrs. Terrell managed the Washington Headquarters of the Division of Legal

Services. She supervised a staff of 30, half of whom were attorneys.

From January, 1996 to March, 1997, Mrs. Terrell worked at the Federal Deposit

Insurance Corporation in Washington, D.C. as its Associate Director in the Legal Programs

Branch, Office of Equal Opportunity. From April 1997 until recently, Mrs. Terrell was the

FDIC’s Chief of its Minorty and Women Outreach Program, in its Office of Diversity and

Economic Opportunity. Mrs. Terrell’s responsibilities included developing policies and

procedures to ensure compliance with the Financial Institutions Reform, Recovery and

Enforcement Act of 1989, and developing and oversight and evaluation program to assess

the success of the FDIC’s Minorty-and-Women-Owned Law Firms Outreach Program.

Mrs. Terrell is active in many legal and civic associations. She is on the Board of

Directors of the Washington Bar Association and the Federal Bar Association and is

abounding member of the National Political Congress of Black Women. Mrs. Terrell is

recognized in the “Who’s Who Among African Americans,” and the “International Who’s

Who of Professionals.”

In 1993 she received the Eagles Award from the Bethune-DuBois Fund in

recognition of outstanding service, and a Special Award from the Commercial Law Section

of the National Bar Association. The Greater Washington Urban League presented Mrs.

Terrell with its “We Have a Story to Tell” award in 1996, during its 24th annual Whitney M.

Young award event.

Mrs. Terrell is married to the Reverend Dr. James E. Terrell, Pastor of the Second

Baptist Church of Washington, D.C. They have three children.