The Hon. Roy W. McLeese III

Roy Wallace McLeese III is an Associate Judge of the District of Columbia Court of Appeals.  He was appointed in 2012 by President Barack Obama.

Judge McLeese received his B.A. cum laude in 1981 from Harvard College, and his J.D. cum laude in 1985 from the New York University School of Law, where he was editor-in-chief of the Law Review.

After graduating from law school, Judge McLeese served as a law clerk to then-Judge Antonin Scalia, on the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit. He then clerked for Justice Scalia on the Supreme Court of the United States. In 1987, Judge McLeese joined the United States Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia. After rotating through various sections of that Office, he became Deputy Chief of the Appellate Division in 1990. From 1997 through 1999, Judge McLeese served as an Assistant to the Solicitor General of the United States, briefing and arguing cases in the Supreme Court. After returning to the United States Attorney’s Office, he became Chief of the Appellate Division in 2005. In 2010, Judge McLeese served for five months as Acting Deputy Solicitor General of the United States, supervising the criminal litigation of the United States in the Supreme Court. He then returned to the United States Attorney’s Office, where he again served as Chief of the Appellate Division until he was appointed to the D.C. Court of Appeals.

While working in the Department of Justice, Judge McLeese twice received the Attorney General’s Distinguished Service Award. He also received the John Marshall Award for Outstanding Legal Achievement for Handling of Appeals.