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Judge Judith Bartnoff was appointed to the District of Columbia Superior Court in 1994 by President William Jefferson Clinton.  Prior to her recent assignment to the Criminal Division, she served as Presiding Judge of the Civil Division, and she was a member of the Chief Judge’s leadership team from 2011-2016. As Presiding Judge of the Civil Division, and in her prior role as Deputy Presiding Judge, she was instrumental in creating an innovative mortgage foreclosure calendar that provided for early mediation, as well as in implementing significant improvements to Landlord and Tenant Court. She also chaired the Advisory Committees on the Civil Rules and the Landlord and Tenant Rules. She currently is assigned to the 7D Community Court calendar in the Criminal Division. In 2017 and 2018, she presided over a Felony 1 calendar, which consisted of complex felony cases.

Judge Bartnoff has served in the Civil, Criminal and Family Divisions, as well as the Domestic Violence Unit. During her tenure, she has presided over both the Civil 1 and Domestic Relations 1 calendars, which included the most complex cases in the Civil and Family Divisions. She also was Presiding Judge of the Domestic Violence Unit and  was the Court’s representative on the District of Columbia Domestic Violence Fatality Review Board.

Before being appointed to the Superior Court, Judge Bartnoff was a partner at Patton Boggs.  Her practice focused primarily on civil litigation, including cases involving housing, administrative law, government contracts, Indian law, and representation of small and disadvantaged business. While at the law firm, in 1993-94, she also served as an Associate Independent Counsel in the Clinton passport investigation.

Before entering private practice, Judge Bartnoff served as an Assistant United States Attorney in the Civil Division of the United States Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia from 1980-1985. She was awarded a Special Achievement Award and the Director’s Award for Superior Performance, as well as commendations from over twenty federal agencies. She served as Special Assistant to the Assistant Attorney General for the Criminal Division and then as an Associate Deputy Attorney General at the U.S. Department of Justice from 1977- 1980. Before joining the Justice Department, she was a staff attorney at the Council for Public Interest Law from 1975-77.

Judge Bartnoff served as a member of the District of Columbia Child Support Guideline Commission from 2002-2017 and played a key role in the revision of the D.C. Child Support Guideline. In 2016, she received the President’s Award from the Benjamin Banneker Development Corporation for her leadership in creating the early mediation calendar for mortgage foreclosure cases. She also worked with the American Psychological Association to develop a parenting coordinator project in the Family Division, and in 2004, she was recognized for her contributions to the Family Court by the Family Law Section of the D.C. Bar.

Judge Bartnoff will take senior status on September 14, 2019.