Overview
(January 23, 2020, Washington, DC) — Steptoe partner Joe Caldwell has been appointed by Chief Judge Beryl Howell and the US District Court for the District of Columbia to chair the magistrate judge merit selection panel in Washington. Lawyers and non-lawyers are appointed as members of a merit selection panel to consider candidates to fill a vacancy for the position of magistrate judge for the US District Court for the District of Columbia.
Having litigated more than 100 jury trials, Caldwell assists his corporate and individual clients in their most complicated commercial disputes and white-collar criminal matters. He is a fellow, and member of the board, of the American College of Trial Lawyers, a distinction reserved for one percent of trial lawyers in the United States and Canada, and recognized for his ongoing diversity, legal, and civic contributions locally and nationally.
Caldwell has worked in state, local and federal government. He previously served four years as legal counsel at the US Supreme Court and as an assistant to Chief Justice Warren E. Burger. Before that, he served as a deputy attorney general for the state of New Jersey in its criminal division, and later as chief of staff and legal counsel to Washington, DC Mayor Sharon Pratt Kelly.
Caldwell co-chairs Steptoe's Diversity Committee and is also engaged in numerous pro bono activities. He served as chair of the Committee on Grievances (ethics committee) of the US District Court for the District of Columbia and as general counsel of My Brother's Keeper Alliance, a nonprofit initiated by President Obama to help young boys of color overcome obstacles to achievement.
About Steptoe
In more than 100 years of practice, Steptoe has earned an international reputation for vigorous representation of clients before governmental agencies, successful advocacy in litigation and arbitration, and creative and practical advice in structuring business transactions. Steptoe has more than 500 lawyers and other professional staff across offices in Beijing, Brussels, Chicago, Hong Kong, London, Los Angeles, New York, San Francisco, and Washington. For more information, visit www.steptoe.com.