Burth G. López joined the District of Columbia Office of Administrative Hearings as an Administrative Law Judge in October 2023. Prior to his appointment, Judge López spent most of his career as a litigator serving the public interest.
Most recently, Judge López served the people of the District for two years as an Assistant Attorney General (AAG) in the Civil Litigation Division of the District of Columbia Office of the Attorney General. As an AAG, Judge López represented District employees and agencies in litigation before District of Columbia and federal courts.
Prior to serving as an AAG, Judge López served the public interest by bringing high-impact cases as a Senior Staff Attorney at the Planned Parenthood Federation of America and the Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund. In these roles, his work focused on preserving and expanding rights for his clients against discriminatory private commercial and government actions and policies.
Judge López also served low-income District of Columbia residents as an attorney at the Neighborhood Legal Services Program, providing direct civil legal representation in a range of areas including family law, housing law, and consumer law. He began his career as an associate attorney at the District of Columbia office of Covington and Burling, LLP. While at Covington, Judge López conducted white-collar investigations and litigated cases. While at Covington and Burling, he was part of the legal team that secured the release of Larry Smith, an Alabama man who was wrongfully convicted and spent over 17 years on Death Row for a murder he did not commit.
Judge López is a magna cum laude graduate of Amherst College, where he received a B.A. in Political Science and Spanish. He received his J.D. from the University of Pennsylvania Law School, receiving the Wapner, Newman, and Wigrizer Award for Special Promise in Civil Trial Advocacy. Judge López served as a mid-career law clerk for the Honorable Robert R. Rigsby, Associate Judge on the District of Columbia Superior Court.