On February 22, 2018, the Greater Washington Chapter, Women’s Law Division of the National Bar Association (GWAC) presented the 30th annual Charlotte E. Ray Award to Administrative Law Judge Sherri Beatty-Arthur. The award was presented at a reception at Morgan, Lewis & Bockius, by Hon. Tara J. Fentress.
The Award honors Charlotte E. Ray who graduated from the Law Department of Howard University in 1872. Ms. Ray was admitted to the District of Columbia Bar in that same year. Ms. Ray was the first African-American woman, and only the third woman, admitted to practice law in the country. Reportedly, she was also the first woman admitted to practice law in the District of Columbia.
Ms. Ray opened a law office in the District of Columbia but was unable to obtain sufficient business because of prejudice. She returned to New York City where she had been born and taught in the public school system. Ms. Ray was active in the women’s suffrage movement until her death at 60.
Judge Sherri Beatty-Arthur, who has practiced law since 1999, was appointed to the Office of Administrative Hearings in July 2014 and re-appointed in 2016. Judge Beatty-Arthur presides over cases in the Public Benefits group at OAH, including cases from such agencies as the Department of Human Services and the Department of Health Care Finance. Judge Beatty-Arthur is the chair of the Recruitment Committee at OAH.
Judge Beatty-Arthur is an active participant in the Washington, D.C. legal community. Her legal practice has primarily been in the area of civil rights and employment law, and has included legal positions with the U.S. Department of Agriculture and the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. Judge Beatty-Arthur has served as the Board Chairman and Chief Executive Officer for the Office of Employee Appeals for the District of Columbia. Judge Beatty-Arthur also spent several years as a partner in the law firm of Arthur & Arthur, PLLC, where she advised clients in family law, employment law and small business development.
Showing a commitment to diversity and membership in the legal community, Judge Beatty-Arthur serves as a mentor with the Washington Bar Association and is an active participant in the University of Maryland Intern for a Day program.
Judge Beatty-Arthur has been a professor at the University of Maryland and at Prince George’s County Community College where she has taught Business Law, Employment Law, and Critical Race Theory. Judge Beatty-Arthur teaches Business Ethics at the University Of Maryland Graduate School Of Business and teaches Torts and Administrative Law at Howard University School of Law. She is a Visiting Faculty member with the Trial Advocacy Workshop at Harvard Law School.
Judge Beatty-Arthur is a native Washingtonian. She received her bachelor’s degree from the University of Maryland in 1993, her law degree from Howard University School of Law in 1998 and her MBA in 2011 from the University of Maryland.