WA Supreme Court is getting a new justice. Who did the governor pick?
Gov. Bob Ferguson on Monday announced his latest pick for Washington state Supreme Court justice: Theodore J. Angelis.
The first-term Democrat revealed his second appointment to the state’s highest court, who will fill the seat of retiring Justice Barbara Madsen. Madsen’s last day is April 3. Angelis starts April 4. He will face an election this fall to fill out the rest of Madsen’s term, which expires in January 2029.
Ferguson described Angelis as a talented and accomplished lawyer who is now a partner at Seattle firm K&L Gates and has handled “dozens and dozens and dozens of appeals” in his 25 years of practice.
“He’s a gifted lawyer, and just as important, he works extremely hard, and he has a heart that looks out for all people in our state,” Ferguson said at Monday’s announcement.
Ferguson chose Justice Colleen Melody late last year to replace retiring Justice Mary Yu. Prior to becoming governor, he worked with Melody at the Office of the Attorney General.
The court is experiencing other turnover, too.
Justice Raquel Montoya-Lewis recently announced that she wouldn’t be seeking reelection later this year, according to the Washington State Standard. Her bench-mate, Justice Charles Johnson, must retire in 2026 due to age; justices are required to retire at the end of the calendar year of their 75th birthday, per the state constitution.
Angelis holds degrees from the London School of Economics, Claremont McKenna College, Yale Law School and Oxford University, Ferugson said. In addition, he clerked on the DC Circuit Court of Appeals.
Ferguson said Angelis has worked on cases related to immigration, including one in which he represented someone who’d become a naturalized citizen while serving in the Army but had been detained by Immigration and Customs Enforcement for seven months. The Department of Homeland Security eventually apologized to the client and settled the case, he said.
The governor said he believed that Angelis is the first person of Middle Eastern descent to serve as justice in the state, and that he’s won numerous awards for his work, including the ACLU’s Humanitarian Award.
Angelis said that: “as someone who has the blessing to practice all over the country and even around the world, this court is deeply respected around this country and even abroad,” he said.
He added that the rule of law is “under threat” in the U.S. and elsewhere, so it’s “important that we as lawyers stand up and defend what we hold most dear.”
This story was originally published March 9, 2026 at 11:26 AM.
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