Josey-Herring was born in Portsmouth, Virginia and raised in the Tidewater Area.

She has been a resident of the District of Columbia for more than 10 years. She received

her B.A. degree from Virginia Commonwealth University in Richmond, Virginia in 1983, and

her Juris Doctorate in 1987 from Georgetown University Law Center in Washington, D.C.

While attending Georgetown Law Center’s Evening Division, Josey-Herring was a

member of the Legal Ethics Law Journal and was employed full-time as a paralegal

specialist at the United States Department of Labor from 1984 to 1985. In that capacity she

reviewed complaints filed by Department of Labor employees concerning disparate

treatment in the work place, and made recommendations for handling those cases.

Between 1985 and 1987, Josey-Herring worked as a law clerk in the United States

Department of Energy Solicitor’s Office and investigated violations of Department of

Energy regulations by oil companies falsely claiming small refiner entitlement bias benefits.

Upon graduating from Georgetown in 1987, she obtained a judicial clerkship position

with The Honorable Herbert B. Dixon, Jr. of the Superior Court. In that capacity, she

worked on a variety of civil law issues including family law, contract disputes, and landlord

and tenant issues.

In 1988, Josey-Herring joined the District of Columbia Public Defender Service as a

staff attorney. While in the trial division she handled a heavy caseload and litigated juvenile,

misdemeanor and felony cases in the Superior Court and supervised less senior staff

attorneys. She also served in the Public Defender Service’s appellate division arguing

cases before the District of Columbia Court of Appeals.

In 1994, while handling serious felonies and homicide cases, Josey-Herring was

appointed by the Board of Trustees of the Public Defender Service to the position of

Deputy Director of the agency. As Deputy Director, Josey-Herring assisted the Director in

all aspects of management and administration of the Public Defender Service, including

budgetary decision making and supervision of agency staff. She also directly supervised

the Investigations Divisions, The Prisoner Rights Program and the Criminal Justice Act

Office, which is responsible for coordinating the appointment of counsel in all criminal cases

in the District of Columbia.

In addition, she administered the agency’s grand funded programs and coordinated

the attorney and law clerk hiring programs. She also monitored the agency’s personnel

policies for compliance with personnel law and handled personnel matters along with the

Director. Additionally, she testified before the District of Columbia City Council on

proposed criminal law legislation and other selected matters.

Josey-Herring also served as Acting Director of the Public Defender Service for

several months in 1997 and was responsible for managing and administering the affairs of

the agency and all of its staff and divisions.

Over the last several years, Josey-Herring has been a guest lecturer at Howard Law

School, Georgetown Law Center, the Columbus School of Law, and the Washington

College of Law at The American University. She was a faculty member at Harvard Law

School’s Trial Advocacy Workshop in 1995, 1996 and 1997. She was also a faculty

member at the National Legal Aid and Defender Training Conference in 1994 and the NITA

Trial Advocacy Conference at Georgetown Law Center in 1997. She also lectured and

provided training to local criminal law practitioners on various criminal topics at the Criminal

Practice Institute.

Josey-Herring is a member of several Bars, including the Bar of the Supreme Court

of the United States, the District of Columbia Bar, the Washington Bar Association, the

Federal Bar Association, the National Bar Association, and the Greater Washington Area

Women’s Division of the National Bar. She has participated in many community activities,

among them, tutoring fourth and fifth grade girls at Malcolm X Elementary School in

Southeast Washington, D.C. In 1994, she served on the Superior Court’s Task Force on

Law School, Georgetown Law Center, the Columbus School of Law, and the Washington

College of Law at The American University. She was a faculty member at Harvard Law

School’s Trial Advocacy Workshop in 1995, 1996 and 1997. She was also a faculty

member at the National Legal Aid and Defender Training Conference in 1994 and the NITA

Trial Advocacy Conference at Georgetown Law Center in 1997. She also lectured and

provided training to local criminal law practitioners on various criminal topics at the Criminal

Practice Institute.

Josey-Herring is a member of several Bars, including the Bar of the Supreme Court

of the United States, the District of Columbia Bar, the Washington Bar Association, the

Federal Bar Association, the National Bar Association, and the Greater Washington Area

Women’s Division of the National Bar. She has participated in many community activities,

among them, tutoring fourth and fifth grade girls at Malcolm X Elementary School in

Southeast Washington, D.C. In 1994, she served on the Superior Court’s Task Force on

Families and Violence, and was a member of the Superior Court’s Domestic Violence Task

Force and Council. From 1994 to 1996 she Co-Chaired the Treatment Subcommittee,

which was responsible for developing treatment plans for children, victims and batterers of

domestic violence.