The Hon. Errol R. Arthur is an associate judge for the Superior Court of the District of Columbia. He was nominated to the bench by President Joe Biden in December 2021, filling the vacancy created by the retirement of the Hon. Jose M. Lopez. Arthur was confirmed by the United States Senate in December 2022.
Prior to his nomination, Arthur presided as a magistrate judge for the Superior Court of the District of Columbia since 2010. During that time, he served in the Criminal Division, the Domestic Violence Division, and the Family Court. Arthur was also the Presiding and Deputy Presiding Magistrate judge (2017 to 2021) and a member of the Chief Judge’s Judicial Leadership Team.
Before joining the bench, he operated his own private practice (2002 to 2010) and worked as a staff attorney with the Public Defender Service for the District of Columbia (1999 to 2002).
Arthur also taught as a visiting faculty member of Harvard Law School’s Trial Advocacy Workshop and as an adjunct professor at the Georgetown University Law Center and Howard University School of Law, where he also served as supervising attorney.
He received a B.A. in English from the University of Maryland in 1994. Arthur then completed a J.D. at Howard University School of Law in 1998.
After graduating from law school, he began his legal career as a clerk to the Hon. Mary A. Gooden Terrell with the Superior Court of the District of Columbia.
Arthur was appointed chairman of the District of Columbia Board of Elections and Ethics and was chair of the Washington Bar Association’s Judicial Council.
A native of Washington, D.C., he attended St. John’s College High School.