Chief Judge Robert Lawrence-Berrey

Judge Robert Lawrence-Berrey became a judge of Division III of the Court of Appeals on March 1, 2014. He served his first two-year term as Chief Judge of Division III beginning in March 2018, and began serving his second two-year term as Chief beginning April 1, 2024.

Judge Lawrence-Berrey came to the Northwest to attend Whitman College. After graduating from Whitman College, he attended and graduated from Willamette University College of Law. After law school, he moved to Yakima, Washington where he practiced law for over 20 years.

As an attorney, his practice was balanced between plaintiff and defense. His typical clients were individuals and small business owners.

Judge Lawrence-Berrey served as a judge pro tem for Yakima County Superior Court from 2004 through 2010. He became a Yakima County Superior Court judge in January 2011, retained his position in a contested election that year, and presided over hundreds of felony, divorce, juvenile, and civil cases as a trial judge until he became an appellate judge in 2014.

Judge Lawrence-Berrey has been involved in numerous volunteer civic and legal activities, including Yakima Bible Study Fellowship, Yakima Downtown Rotary, Citizens for Safe Yakima Valley Communities, Yakima Symphony Orchestra Board, Yakima Volunteer Attorney Services Board, Yakima Juvenile Court Community Accountability Board, Central Washington Multiple Sclerosis Society Board, and Yakima Goodwill Industries Board. He also is a past president of the Yakima County Bar Association and Selah Kiwanis.

Judge Lawrence-Berrey is married. He and his wife Kristi have three adult children, Jessi, Erik, and Nikki, and five grandchildren-May, Grant, Garrison, Emma, and Quincy. His hobbies are bicycling and golf.