The Hon. Erik P. Christian is an associate judge for the Superior Court of the District of Columbia. He was nominated for his first term on the bench by former President George W. Bush in 2001 and reappointed for his second term by former President Barack Obama in 2016. Christian was confirmed by the United States Senate on May 24, 2001.
He has served as Deputy Presiding and Judge Presiding Judge (2015 to 2016) of the Probate and Tax Divisions. Christian has also held assignments in the Civil Division, Criminal Division, Family Court, the Domestic Violence Unit, and the District of Columbia Traffic Trial Branch.
Prior to his nomination, he was legal counsel to the Mayor’s Office. In that capacity, Christian reinstated the Criminal Justice Coordinating Council and worked in conjunction with the Council for Court Excellence. Before his position there, he oversaw the Metropolitan Police Department, the Fire and Emergency Medical Services Department, the Department of Corrections, the Medical Examiner’s Office, the Emergency Management Agency, and the Office of Justice Grants Management as Deputy Mayor for Public Safety and Justice, a position to which he was appointed in 1999.
Christian joined the Mayor’s Office after working as an assistant United States attorney for the United States Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia (1989 to 1995) and First Assistant United States Attorney in the United States Virgin Islands (1995 to 1999).
He began his legal career as a civil attorney at Webster & Fredrickson before becoming a law clerk to the Hon. Annice Wagner with the Superior Court of the District of Columbia.
He received a B.A. in English and political science from Howard University in 1982. Christian then completed a J.D. at Georgetown Law School in 1986.
He is an active member of the Washington Bar Association, having been inducted into its Hall of Fame membership in 2015.
Christian served as chairman of the District of Columbia Court of Appeals Committee on the Unauthorized Practice of Law and has sat as a member of the Superior Court Rules Committee, the Probate and Fiduciary Rules Advisory and Education Committees, the Probate and Fiduciary Panel Implementation Committee, the Tax Rules Advisory Committee, the Criminal Rules Advisory Committee, the Criminal Justice Act Panel Implementation Committee, the Superior Court Jury Management Committee, the Court Security Committee, the Buildings and Grounds Committee, the Art Trust Fund Committee, and the Court Interpreters Committee.
He has also taught Trial Advocacy as an adjunct professor at American University, Washington College of Law, and Civil and Criminal Trial Advocacy at Howard University School of Law.
Christian, a native of Washington, D.C., attended Archbishop John Carroll High School.