THE HONORABLE MICHAEL WILLIAM FARRELL
ASSOCIATE JUDGE
DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA COURT OF APPEALS
Judge Michael William Farrell was appointed to the District of Columbia Court of
Appeals in 1989 by President George H.W. Bush.
Judge Farrell was born and raised in West Orange, New Jersey. He graduated
from the University of Notre Dame with a Bachelor of Arts in English in 1960 and
received his Master of Arts in German from Columbia University in 1966. Before
turning to the law, Judge Farrell was Chair of the English Department at Georgetown
Preparatory School in Rockville, Maryland. He received his law degree from the
American University School of Law in 1973.
Judge Farrell’s legal career has always involved public service. Following law
school, Judge Farrell clerked for the Honorable John P. Moore, Associate Judge of the
Maryland Court of Special Appeals. He entered the Department of Justice as an attorney
in the Criminal Division, Appellate Section the following year. In 1977, Judge Farrell
joined the United States Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia, where he served
as Deputy Chief, Appellate Division before becoming Chief of the Appellate Division in
1982.
Since 1992, Judge Farrell has been a member of the Joint Committee on Judicial
Administration of the D.C. Courts. He also recently chaired the Court of Appeals’
committee which revised the Court’s rules of procedure.
