General Information
Hours
Mondays-Fridays: 8:30a.m.-5:00p.m.
After 5:00p.m., filings can be made in the after-hours filing
box in the lobby of the Moultrie Courthouse.
Location
Moultrie Courthouse
500 Indiana Avenue, N.W., Sixth Floor
Washington, D.C. 20001
Main Contact
Phone: (202) 879-2700
Clerk: Garland Pinkston, Jr.
Congress established the District of Columbia Court
of Appeals as the highest court of the District of Columbia
in 1970. The court consists of a chief judge and eight
associate judges. The court is assisted by the service
of retired judges who have been recommended and approved
as senior judges.
The D.C. Court of Appeals is the equivalent of a state supreme
court. As the highest court for the District of Columbia,
the Court of Appeals is authorized to review all final orders,
judgments and specified interlocutory orders of the Superior
Court of the District of Columbia. The Court also has jurisdiction
to review decisions of administrative agencies, boards, and
commissions of the District of Columbia government, as well
as to answer questions of law certified by federal and state
appellate courts. As authorized by Congress, the Court reviews
proposed rules of the Superior Court and promulgates its own
rules.
Cases before the court are determined by randomly selected,
three-judge divisions, unless a hearing or rehearing
before the court sitting en banc, that is, by all 9
judges, is requested and ordered. A hearing or rehearing
before the Court sitting en banc may be ordered by a
majority of the judges in regular active service, generally
only when consideration by the full court is necessary
to maintain uniformity of its decisions, or when the
case involves a question of exceptional importance.
In the exercise of its inherent jurisdiction over
members of the legal profession, the Court established
the District of Columbia Bar and has the power to approve
the rules regarding attorney discipline. The Court also
approves the rules regarding attorney conduct and has
established rules governing the admission of members
of the District of Columbia Bar and the resolution of
complaints concerning the unauthorized practice of law
in the District of Columbia.
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