Judicial Talks

This event is for WWCDA members and guests only. Registration is subject to approval. 

WWCDA Judicial Talks

A Conversation with
Judge Beryl Howell and Judge Timothy Kelly

Led by Beth Wilkinson

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Speakers

The Honorable Beryl A. Howell

United States District Court for the District of Columbia

Judge Beryl A. Howell has served on the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia since 2011, including as Chief Judge from 2016 until March 2023. She took senior status in February 2024.

Judge Howell has worked in private practice, the legal academy and in all three branches of the federal government. After a clerkship for a federal judge in the District of New Jersey, she was a litigation associate at a New York City law firm, and then an Assistant U.S. Attorney and Deputy Chief of the Narcotics Section in the U.S. Attorney’s office for the Eastern District of New York. She subsequently served as general counsel of the U.S. Senate Committee on the Judiciary, where she worked for Senator Patrick J. Leahy, (D-VT). After leaving her work on the Hill, Judge Howell served two terms as a Commissioner on the U.S. Sentencing Commission, after being appointed by President George W. Bush and confirmed by the U.S. Senate, while also working as executive managing director and general counsel of a cybersecurity and digital forensics consulting firm. Judge Howell has previously served as a member of the Judicial Conference of the United States and the Judicial Conference Committee on Information Technology and currently serves on the Judicial Conference Committee on Criminal Law.

She received her B.A., with Honors in Philosophy, from Bryn Mawr College and her J.D from Columbia University School of Law, where she was a Harlan Fiske Stone Scholar. Among her other awards, Judge Howell was inducted into the National Freedom of Information Act Hall of Fame in 2001 and is the recipient of the 2004 First Amendment Award by the Society of Professional Journalists in recognition of “the important work she has done on behalf of all journalists and those who understand the significance of the government watchdog role the media must practice each day.”

The Honorable Timothy J. Kelly

United States District Court for the District of Columbia

Judge Timothy J. Kelly was appointed to the United States District Court for the District of Columbia in September 2017.  He received his A.B., cum laude, from Duke University in 1991 and his J.D. from Georgetown University in 1997, where he served as a Senior Associate Editor of the American Criminal Law Review and represented indigent defendants in D.C. Superior Court through Georgetown’s Criminal Justice Clinic.

Judge Kelly began his career as an associate at the law firm of Arnold & Porter, where his practice focused on defending complex product liability cases in state and federal court.  From 1999 to 2000, he served as Arnold & Porter’s loaned associate at the Legal Aid Society of the District of Columbia, where he represented indigent clients in civil matters.  From 2001 to 2002, he served as a law clerk to the Honorable Ronald L. Buckwalter on the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania.

In 2003, Judge Kelly joined the United States Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia as an Assistant United States Attorney, where he prosecuted a variety of offenses, including serious violent crimes, drug trafficking, and white-collar offenses. In 2007, he joined the Department of Justice’s Public Integrity Section.  For his work prosecuting public corruption cases there, Judge Kelly received the Assistant Attorney General’s Award for Distinguished Service and the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s Washington Field Office Service Award.

From 2013 to 2017, Judge Kelly served as Chief Counsel for National Security and Senior Crime Counsel to U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Charles E. Grassley.

Judge Kelly is a member of the Edward Bennett Williams Inn of Court.  He is a former Treasurer of the District of Columbia Bar’s Criminal Law and Individual Rights Section Steering Committee.

A special thank you to the annual WWCDA Sponsors whose support make this program
and all of our programs and activities possible throughout the year.