Michael William Farrell (born July 14, 1938) is a former judge of the District of Columbia Court of Appeals, the highest court for the

District of Columbia ) , image_skyline = , image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, ...

. He was appointed to the court in 1989, took senior status in 2008, and retired in 2019. Born and raised in

West Orange, New Jersey West Orange is a suburban township in Essex County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. As of the 2020 United States Census, its population was 48,843, an increase of 2,636 (+5.7%) from the 46,207 counted in the 2010 Census.

, Farrell graduated from the

University of Notre Dame The University of Notre Dame du Lac, known simply as Notre Dame ( ) or ND, is a private Catholic university, Catholic research university in Notre Dame, Indiana, outside the city of South Bend, Indiana, South Bend. French priest Edward Sorin fo ...

with a Bachelor of Arts in English in 1960 and received his Master of Arts in German from

Columbia University Columbia University (also known as Columbia, and officially as Columbia University in the City of New York) is a private research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Church in Manhatt ...

in 1966. Before law school he was a high school teacher and chair of the English Department at

Georgetown Preparatory School Georgetown Preparatory School (also known as Georgetown Prep) is a Jesuit college-preparatory school in North Bethesda, Maryland for boys in ninth through twelfth grade. It has a 93-acre (380,000 square meters) campus. It is the only Jesuit boar ...

. After graduating from American University's

Washington College of Law The American University Washington College of Law (AUWCL or WCL) is the law school of American University, a private research university in Washington, D.C. It is located on the western side of Tenley Circle in the Tenleytown section of nort ...

, Farrell clerked for a judge on the

Maryland Court of Special Appeals Maryland ( ) is a state in the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States. It shares borders with Virginia, West Virginia, and the District of Columbia to its south and west; Pennsylvania to its north; and Delaware and the Atlantic Ocean to i ...

and worked as a prosecutor at the

United States Department of Justice Criminal Division United may refer to: Places * United, Pennsylvania, an unincorporated community * United, West Virginia, an unincorporated community Arts and entertainment Films * ''United'' (2003 film), a Norwegian film * ''United'' (2011 film), a BBC Two fi ...

and the United States Attorney's office for the District of Columbia. He served as chief of the appellate division at the U.S. Attorney's office from 1982 to 1989, when, like his predecessors Frank Q. Nebeker and John A. Terry and his successors John R. Fisher and Roy W. McLeese, he was nominated to the D.C. Court of Appeals. After taking senior status in 2008, he continued to hear cases until his retirement in January 2019.

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* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Farrell, Michael William 1938 births Living people 20th-century American judges 21st-century American judges American University alumni Assistant United States Attorneys Columbia Graduate School of Arts and Sciences alumni Judges of the District of Columbia Court of Appeals Lawyers from Washington, D.C. People from West Orange, New Jersey Notre Dame College of Arts and Letters alumni