Judicial Nomination Commission Recommends Three Candidates for D.C. Superior Court Vacancy

January 10, 2018

The District of Columbia Judicial Nomination Commission (Commission) has recommended to the President the three individuals listed below for his consideration in selecting a nominee to fill the judicial vacancy on the Superior Court of the District of Columbia created by the retirement of Judge Frederick H. Weisberg. The President has sixty days to select a nominee to fill this vacancy.

The Commission recommends the following candidates to fill Judge Weisberg’s vacancy:

Judge Rahkel Bouchet serves as a Magistrate Judge in the Superior Court of the District of Columbia. Prior to her appointment, Judge Bouchet, in 2008, formed a private litigation practice and litigated criminal and family matters in the District of Columbia metropolitan area. In 2013, while maintaining her private practice, Judge Bouchet joined the faculty at Howard University School of Law as the Supervising Attorney of the Child Welfare and Family Justice Clinic. Judge Bouchet is an active member of the community and has served on boards with several community organizations, including the National Bar Association and the Howard University Alumni Association. Judge Bouchet received her Bachelor of Arts degree, cum laude, from Howard University, and her Juris Doctor degree from the Howard University School of Law, where she was a founding member of the Trial Advocacy Moot Court Team.

Cory M. Chandler began her legal career in 1999 in the Honors Program with the District of Columbia Office of the Attorney General (OAG), formerly the Office of the Corporation Counsel, where she briefed child abuse and neglect appellate cases. She then moved to the Child Protection Section, where she prosecuted hundreds of child abuse and neglect matters. In 2004, Ms. Chandler was appointed as Chief of the Child Protection Section IV. In this capacity she was responsible for ensuring the OAG’s and Child and Family Services Agency’s (CFCA) compliance with the Adoption and Safe Families Act and the LaShawn A. v. Bowser Modified Final Order and Implementation Plan. Beginning in 2006, Ms. Chandler served as the Chief of the Policy and Training Section in the Child Support Services Division (CSSD), and in May 2007, she was appointed as CSSD Assistant Deputy Attorney General where she conceptualized the Mobile Office Outreach Van and supervised community events. In October 2011, Ms. Chandler returned to the OAG Family Services Division to serve as Deputy Attorney General in which capacity she had oversight of the Child Protection Section, the Domestic Violence Section, and the Mental Health Section. In October 2015, Ms. Chandler was appointed General Counsel for CFSA and currently serves as the top legal advisor for the District's child welfare agency. Ms. Chandler received her Bachelor of Science degree from Towson State University, and her Juris Doctor degree from Catholic University of America School of Law.

Judith E. Pipe serves as a supervisor in the Trial Division of the Public Defender Service (PDS) for the District of Columbia where she has represented hundreds of individuals charged with offenses ranging from misdemeanors to homicides in the Superior Court of the District of Columbia. Ms. Pipe has represented dozens of clients as sole or chief counsel in jury trials and non-jury trials in Superior Court. She has also directly supervised multiple attorneys in the trial division at PDS and conducted numerous trainings for attorneys and law students in the District of Columbia. Ms. Pipe represented PDS on the steering committee for the Superior Court Drug Intervention Program during a period of restructuring to create a nationally recognized model Drug Court program. Ms. Pipe received her Bachelor of Arts degree, cum laude, from American University, and her Juris Doctor degree, magna cum laude, from Catholic University of America School of Law

Please direct any questions to the Commission via email or phone at 202-879-0477.