B.A., Howard University; J.D., cum laude, Georgetown. Professor Simmons is the head of David C. Simmons, Esq., a small firm providing private adjudication and mediation services. He is the former Chief Administrative Law Judge for the D.C. Commission on Human Rights. Before becoming a judge, Professor Simmons was in private practice and headed his own law firm specializing in civil litigation and employment discrimination. Earlier in his career he was a litigation associate with Sonnenschein Nath & Rosenthal and served a term as Athletic Director of Howard University. Professor Simmons worked as an associate at Skadden Arps Slate Meagher & Flom and was Chief of the Program Coordination Branch of the United Planning Organization. He was a Special Assistant to the Executive Director of Friendship House Association, Inc., Deputy Special Assistant to Congressman Walter E. Fauntroy and Legislative Assistant to Congressman John Conyers. Professor Simmons clerked for the late Judge Damon J. Keith of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit. Professor Simmons has received the Charles Fahy Distinguished Adjunct Professor Award and the Paul R. Dean Outstanding Alumni Award.
