Richard J. Leon

Judge Leon was appointed to the United States District Court in February 2002. He received his A.B. from Holy Cross College in 1971, his J.D. cum laude from Suffolk Law School in 1974, and his LL.M. from Harvard Law School in 1981. Immediately prior to his appointment to the bench, Judge Leon was engaged in private practice in Washington, D.C., as a partner in the Washington office of Baker & Hostetler (1989-1999), and Vorys, Sater, Seymour and Pease (1999-2002). Prior to and while in private practice, Judge Leon served as counsel to Congress in the investigations of three sitting Presidents. In 1987, he was the Deputy Chief Minority Counsel for the U.S. House Select “Iran-Contra” Committee. From 1992-1993, he was the Chief Minority Counsel to the U.S. House Foreign Affairs Committee’s “October Surprise” Task Force. In 1994, Judge Leon was Special Counsel to the U.S. House Banking Committee for its “Whitewater” investigation. He also served in 1997 as Special Counsel to the bipartisan U.S. House Ethics Reform Task Force. Earlier in his career, Judge Leon served at the U.S. Department of Justice in a number of positions including Deputy Assistant Attorney General in the Environment Division, Senior Trial Attorney in the Criminal Section of the Tax Division, and as a Special Assistant United States Attorney in the Southern District of New York. He also served as a Commissioner on the White House Fellows Commission and the Judicial Review Commission on Foreign Asset Control. A former full-time law professor at St. John’s Law School (1979-1983), Judge Leon is currently an adjunct law professor at the Georgetown University Law Center and the George Washington University Law School.

Adjunct professor

George Washington University Law School

2004 - Current

Judge

U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia

2002 - Current

Adjunct professor

Georgetown University Law Center

1997 - Current

Attorney

Private practice, Washington, D.C.

1989 - 2002

Commissioner

Judicial Review Commission on Foreign Asset Control

2000 - 2001

Special counsel

U.S. House of Representatives Ethics Reform Task Force

1997

Special counsel

Whitewater investigation, U.S. House of Representatives Committee on Banking, Finance and Urban Affairs

1994

Chief minority counsel

October Surprise Task Force, U.S. House of Representatives Committee on Foreign Affairs

1992 - 1993

Commissioner

White House Fellows Commission

1990 - 1993

Deputy assistant attorney general

Environment and Natural Resources Division, U.S. Department of Justice

1988 - 1989

Deputy chief minority counsel

U.S. House of Representatives Select Committee to Investigate Covert Arms Transactions with Iran

1987 - 1988

Senior trial attorney

Criminal Section, Tax Division, U.S. Department of Justice

1983 - 1987

Assistant professor of law

St. John's University School of Law

1979 - 1983

Special assistant U.S. attorney

Civil Division, Southern District of New York

1977 - 1978

Attorney

Immigration and Naturalization Service, U.S. Department of Justice Honors Program

1976 - 1977

Law clerk

Hon. Thomas F. Kelleher, Supreme Court of Rhode Island

1975 - 1976

Law clerk

Massachusetts Superior Court

1974 - 1975

Harvard Law School

LL.M. (1981)

Suffolk University Law School

J.D. (1974)

College of the Holy Cross

B.A. (1971)