The Hon. Judith Bartnoff (Ret.) is a senior associate judge for the Superior Court of the District of Columbia. Bartnoff was nominated to the bench by former President Bill Clinton on January 28, 1994, filling a seat vacated by the Hon. Eric Holder. Her nomination was confirmed by the United States Senate on July 15, 1994. Bartnoff assumed senior status on September 13, 2019.
Prior to her appointment, Bartnoff was a partner at Batton Boggs. During her tenure there, she specialized in civil litigation, including cases involving housing, administrative law, government contracts, Indian law, and small business matters. She also held assignments as an associate independent counsel in the Clinton passport investigation (1993 to 1994).
Bartnoff earned a bachelor’s degree in history and English literature from Radcliffe College in 1971. She then completed a J.D. at Columbia Law School (1974) and an LL.M. at Georgetown University Law Center (1975).
After graduating from law school, Bartnoff began her legal career as a staff attorney with the Council for Public Interest Law. She served in that capacity until 1977, at which time she joined the United States Department of Justice. Bartnoff spent the next three years as an associate deputy attorney general, eventually leaving to become an assistant United States attorney in the Office of the United States Attorney for the District of Columbia.
Her memberships have included the Judicial Conference of the District of Columbia Circuit and the American Bar Foundation. She has also been involved with the District of Columbia Child Support Guideline Commission.
She is a recipient of the President’s Award from the Benjamin Banneker Development Corporation.
Raised in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, Bartnoff attended Taylor Allderdice High School.