Senior Judge Beryl A. Howell was appointed to the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia by President Barack Obama on December 27, 2010. She served as Chief Judge from March 2016 to March 17, 2023.
Before her appointment, Judge Howell served as Executive Managing Director and General Counsel at a cybersecurity firm from 2003 to 2009. She previously served as Staff and General Counsel for the U.S. Senate Committee on the Judiciary from 1993 to 2003. She served as a Commissioner on the U.S. Sentencing Commission from 2004 to January 2013. Earlier in her career, she served as Deputy Chief of the Narcotics Section and as an Assistant U.S. Attorney in the Eastern District of New York from 1987 to 1993.
Education
- Columbia University School of Law, J.D., 1983 (Harlan Fiske Stone Scholar)
- Bryn Mawr College, B.A. with honors in Philosophy, 1978
Career
- Senior Judge, U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia
- Chief Judge, U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia (2016–2023)
- U.S. District Judge (2010–present)
- Commissioner, U.S. Sentencing Commission (2004–2013)
- Executive Managing Director and General Counsel, cybersecurity firm (2003–2009)
- Staff and General Counsel, U.S. Senate Committee on the Judiciary (1993–2003)
- Deputy Chief of Narcotics Section and Assistant U.S. Attorney, Eastern District of New York (1987–1993)
- Litigation associate, Schulte, Roth & Zabel
- Law clerk to Judge Dickinson R. Debevoise, U.S. District Court, District of New Jersey