JNC Recommends Candidates for Superior Court of the District of Columbia Vacancy

The District of Columbia Judicial Nomination Commission ("Commission") has recommended to the President the names of the three attorneys listed below for his consideration in selecting a nominee to fill the judicial vacancy on the Superior Court of the District of Columbia ("Superior Court") created by the passing of the Honorable Lynn Leibovitz. The President has sixty (60) days to select a nominee to fill this vacancy.

The Commission recommends the following candidates for the Leibovitz vacancy:

Stuart D. Allen, Esq., currently serves as an Assistant United States Attorney in the National Security Section at the United States Attorney's Office for the District of Columbia ("USAO-DC"). He previously served in the Sex Offense and Domestic Violence Section, where he investigated and prosecuted offenses in the Superior Court involving sexual abuse of adults and children, domestic violence, and human trafficking. He also co-chaired the D.C. Human Trafficking Task Force.

In recognition of his work, Mr. Allen has received the Department of Justice Criminal Division Assistant Attorney General's Exceptional Service Award, the U.S. Attorney's Award for Community Outreach, and U.S. Attorney's Team Awards. He has also received awards from the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the United States Department of Homeland Security ("DHS").

Before his government service, Mr. Allen was a litigator at WilmerHale in Washington, D.C. He also maintained a pro bono practice focused on combating human trafficking. Additionally, he was a litigator at Milbank in Los Angeles and completed a pro bono secondment to Public Counsel, representing indigent victims of consumer fraud.

Mr. Allen received his Bachelor of Arts degree with distinction from Yale University and his Juris Doctor, cum laude, from the University of Michigan Law School. Following law school, he clerked for the Honorable Ellen Bree Burns on the United States District Court for the District of Connecticut and the Honorable Cornelia G. Kennedy on the United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit.

Hon. Rahkel Bouchet currently serves as Deputy Presiding Magistrate Judge on the Superior Court. During her tenure with the court, she served as the Presiding Judge of the Family Treatment Court. She presided over many high-volume calendars, including Family, Civil, Landlord & Tenant, and Small Claims. Judge Bouchet is an active member of several court committees.

Before joining the court, Judge Bouchet was an experienced litigator, managing an expansive law practice that included criminal and all aspects of family law matters. Her practice also included success before the District of Columbia Court of Appeals. In 2013, while maintaining her practice, Judge Bouchet joined the faculty at Howard University School of Law as the Supervising Attorney of the Family Justice Clinic, where she supervised law students who represented parents in the District.

Judge Bouchet received her Bachelor of Arts degree, cum laude, from Howard University and her Juris Doctor from Howard University School of Law, where she was a founding member of the Trial Advocacy Moot Court Team. While at Howard Law, she also served as a congressional intern and assistant press secretary for Congressman Walter R. Tucker, III, in California's 37th Congressional District.

The Honorable Roman M. Chaban currently serves as an Appellate Immigration Judge in the Executive Office for Immigration Review ("EOIR") at the United States Department of Justice ("DOJ"), where he reviews immigration laws and provides guidance to immigration judges and DHS.

Before joining the EOIR, Judge Chaban served as a trial attorney in the Criminal Division at the DOJ. There, he also served on the War Crimes Accountability Team, Human Rights & Special Prosecutions Section, where he prosecuted war crimes in Ukraine. Judge Chaban also served as a Special United States Attorney at the USAO-DC and litigated immigration and national security cases at DHS.

Judge Chaban earned his Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of Notre Dame, his Juris Doctor from Villanova University School of Law, and his Master of Laws degree in Criminal Law, with distinction, from Georgetown University Law Center. Following law school, he clerked for the Honorable Carol Sandra Moore Wells and the Honorable James T. Giles on the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania.

Please direct any questions to the Commission's Executive Director, Tracy B. Nutall, Esq., at (202) 879-0478 or [email protected].

Members of the District of Columbia Judicial Nomination Commission

The Honorable Marie C. Johns
PPC-Leftwich
900 7^th Street, NW
Suite 700
Washington, DC 20001
(202) 434-9124
[email protected]

Benjamin F. Wilson, Esq.
7825 Orchid Street, NW
Washington, DC 20012
(202) 657-2534
[email protected]

Addy R. Schmitt, Esq.
Kropf Moseley Schmitt
1100 H Street, NW
Suite 1220
Washington, DC 20005
(202) 236-5291
[email protected]

Vincent H. Cohen, Jr., Esq.
Dechert LLP
1900 K Street, NW
Washington, DC 20006
(202) 261-3432
[email protected]

The Honorable Linda W. Cropp
4001 18^th Street, NW
Washington, DC 20011
(202) 726-0505
[email protected]

The Honorable Tanya S. Chutkan
United States District Court for the District of Columbia
United States Courthouse
333 Constitution Avenue, NW
Washington, DC 20001
(202) 354-3390
[email protected]

Margarita K. O'Donnell, Esq.
Zuckerman Spaeder LLP
2100 L Street, NW
Suite 400
Washington, DC 20037
(202) 367-6702
[email protected]