Chief Judge Lee Swears in Six New Superior Court Judges

Chief Judge Lee Swears in Six New Superior Court Judges

September 15, 2026

By John Murph

Judge Christine Macey is sworn in.

On September 14, six new associate judges on D.C. Superior Court were sworn in by Chief Judge Milton C. Lee Jr. Held in his chambers, the ceremony marked progress in ongoing efforts to fill judicial vacancies on the D.C. Courts.

The new associate judges are Craig Leen, a former partner at K&L Gates LLP; Christine M. Macey, former deputy chief in the Felony Major Crimes Section at the U.S. Attorney's Office for the District of Columbia; John Timmer, former senior trial counsel in the Enforcement Division at the United States Securities and Exchange Commission; Christopher De Bono, former senior counsel in the U.S. Department of Justice's Office of Legal Policy; Sharon Goodie, a former administrative law judge for the District of Columbia Office of Administrative Hearings; and Michael DiLorenzo, former deputy chief in the National Security Section at the U.S. Attorney's Office for the District of the Columbia.

After the official oaths were taken, Chief Judge Lee expressed cautious optimism about the efforts to end the decade-plus vacancy crisis. "We're incredibly grateful as a court and community to get these six judges onboard," Lee said. "We need everybody that we can get right now."

Lee says that in his time as chief judge of the Superior Court, he has witnessed the vacancies rise to 15. And while he expresses immense gratitude for the incoming judges, he's pragmatic about how much it will help abate the crisis, noting that there are still eight vacancies on the Superior Court bench.

He's also anticipating the retirement of several judges next year. "So, the new judges are really just a net gain of two," Lee explained. "We're still thankful, but I continue to [tell] everyone [that] we need to manage expectations of the court. We still have an unprecedented number of vacancies. We have a backlog [of cases] that we need tackle."

At full capacity, the Superior Court has 62 trial judges, while the Court of Appeals has nine judges. Last week, the D.C. Court of Appeals swore in Judges James Crowell IV and Stuart Nash, enabling that court to have a full bench for the first time since 2013.