Welcome to the HBA-DC Judicial Council page. 

To reach the Judicial Council, please email Judicialcouncil@hbadc.org.

The Judicial Council of the Hispanic Bar Association of the District of Columbia is a part of the Hispanic Bar Association of the District of Columbia ("HBA-DC”). The Judicial Council serves as a forum for the consideration of matters of importance to Hispanic members of the Judiciary. The Council also serves as a support network for members of the Judiciary.

The Judicial Council shall be composed of active and retired judicial officers, including Magistrate Judges, of the District of Columbia Court of Appeals, the Superior Court of the District of Columbia, the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit, the United States District Court for the District of Columbia, the United States Court of Federal Claims, the United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit, the United States Supreme Court, the United States Tax Court, and any other court of competent jurisdiction in the District of Columbia, as well as Administrative Law Judges in the District of Columbia. If you are interested in joining the Council please contact Kenia Seoane López at kenias@yahoo.com.

Officers of the HBA-DC Judicial Council:

Chairperson: Magistrate Judge Kenia Seoane Lopez

Vice-Chairperson: Judge Jimmie Reyna

Recording Secretary: Judge Rudolph Contreras

Treasurer: Judge Jose Lopez

A copy of the Judicial Council's By-laws are available here.

Council for Court Excellence Report: How the District of Columbia Gets Its Judges

2025 Summer Judicial Internship Program

The Judicial Council organizes a 10-week internship program from May 27, 2025 to August 1, 2025. To apply, please submit the following: (1) application form, (2) cover letter, (3) resume, (4) transcript, (5) writing sample, and (6) list of two references. Submit your application materials as a single PDF file to both: judicialcouncilinternships@hbadc.org AND kenia.seoanelopez@dcsc.gov.

The Summer Judicial Internship Application can be found here. Do you still have questions about the Judicial Internship Program? Check out our Frequently Asked Questions page here.

 Application DEADLINE: February 18, 2025

The American Bar Association House of Delegates passed Resolution 113 at its February 2012 meeting. The Resolution adopted the ABA Standards for Language Access in Courts, which establish 10 principles that all courts and adjudicatory tribunals should follow in designing, implementing and enforcing a comprehensive system of language access services across all types of proceedings. The Standards are grounded on principles of access to justice, fairness, equal treatment and constitutional and legal requirements. The Resolution also urges federal and state legislative and executive branches to provide adequate funding to courts for the implementation of language access services.

The Standards were developed by a broad-based national Advisory Group and are supported by the Conference of Chief Justices, the National Center for State Courts and the Conference of State Court Administrators.

HBA-DC Judicial Council Member Judge Vanessa Ruiz of the District of Columbia Court of Appeals played an instrumental role in the adoption of the Standards through her work as Chair of the American Bar Association’s project to develop national standards on language access in courts. The project was undertaken under the auspices of the ABA Standing Committee on Legal Aid and Indigent Defendants, of which she is a member.

The Language Access Standards can be accessed here.

Judge Ruiz’s role was featured in the Blog of the Legal Times.