Alec Haniford Deull was born and raised in Buffalo, New York. He graduated from

the University of Michigan in 1987 and earned his Juris Doctor in 1992 from the American

University Washington College of Law. He graduated magna cum laude from that

institution and received its Dean’s Award for Professional Responsibility.

Mr. Haniford Deull began his career of service to low-income families of the District of

Columbia in his first year as a clinical law student. At that time, in conjunction with the

Washington Legal Clinic for the Homeless, he represented clients at administrative hearings

regarding their eligibility for food stamps and for government-funded shelter. He also

worked on child custody and landlord/tenant cases for low-income families when he served

as an intern with the Legal Aid Society of the District of Columbia. In his second year as a

clinical law student, Mr. Haniford Deull began his representation of parties in the abuse and

neglect system of the Family Division of the Superior Court of the District of Columbia.

Mr. Haniford Deull’s work with children and adults in abuse and neglect cases has

been continuous since that time. He established his solo practice immediately upon being

admitted to the District of Columbia bar in 1992, and focused almost exclusively upon

court-appointed representation of clients involved in the District’s abuse and neglect system

for the past nine years. His abuse and neglect practice centered upon representation of

children in large sibling groups, drug-addicted parents, and parents with major psychiatric

impairments. In that context, Mr. Haniford Deull also litigated adoption, custody, and special

education cases on behalf of some of the District of Columbia’s most fractured families and

most vulnerable children. He also provided training for attorneys, social workers, and clinical

law students. In 2001, the Bar Association of the District of Columbia conferred an award

upon Mr. Haniford Deull as an “Unsung Hero in Law.”

Mr. Haniford Deull closed his practice in order to accept appointment as a Magistrate

Judge with the District of Columbia Family Court. He is grateful to his own extended family

for the values with which he was raised, and to his mentors and life-long friends for helping

him understand even better how to fulfill an ethic of service. Mr. Haniford Deull especially

appreciates the vast contributions of his very close friend, the late Professor Mary Hynes,

toward his professional and personal growth. Most of all, he is grateful to his former clients,

children and adults alike, for the ongoing trust which they placed in him during his years in

training and in private practice.