Susan Habib Amini is a judge of the

King County Superior Court The Superior Court of Washington for King County (more commonly, the King County Superior Court) is the largest trial court in Washington state. It is based at the King County Courthouse, 516 Third Avenue, in downtown Seattle, Washington. It ...

, where she has served on the bench since 2013. She was appointed by Governor

Jay Inslee Jay Robert Inslee ( ; born February 9, 1951) is an American politician and lawyer who served from 2013 to 2025 as the 23rd governor of Washington. A member of the Democratic Party, he served from 1993 to 1995 and again from 1999 to 2012 as a ...

as one of his first judicial appointments. She is the first judge of

Middle Eastern The Middle East (term originally coined in English language) is a geopolitical region encompassing the Arabian Peninsula, the Levant, Turkey, Egypt, Iran, and Iraq. The term came into widespread usage by the United Kingdom and western Eur ...

descent to serve in Washington State.

Early life and education

Amini was born in

Tehran, Iran Tehran (; , ''Tehrân'') is the capital and largest city of Iran. It is the capital of Tehran province, and the administrative center for Tehran County and its Central District (Tehran County), Central District. With a population of around 9. ...

, where she attended

Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...

school and then obtained her undergraduate degree in

political science Political science is the scientific study of politics. It is a social science dealing with systems of governance and Power (social and political), power, and the analysis of political activities, political philosophy, political thought, polit ...

from the

University of Tehran The University of Tehran (UT) or Tehran University (, ) is a public collegiate university in Iran, and the oldest and most prominent Iranian university located in Tehran. Based on its historical, socio-cultural, and political pedigree, as well as ...

. She has stated that she developed a passion for the U.S. legal system by watching

Perry Mason Perry Mason is a fictional character, an American criminal defense lawyer who is the main character in works of detective fiction written by Erle Stanley Gardner. Perry Mason features in 82 novels and four short stories, all of which involve a ...

episodes on television. Once she graduated from university, and as the

Islamic Revolution The Iranian Revolution (, ), also known as the 1979 Revolution, or the Islamic Revolution of 1979 (, ) was a series of events that culminated in the overthrow of the Pahlavi dynasty in 1979. The revolution led to the replacement of the Im ...

took over Iran, Amini married Mo Habib and moved with him to Maryland. Their son, future Washington State Lieutenant Governor

Cyrus Habib Kamyar Cyrus Habib (born August 22, 1981) is an American Jesuit, lawyer, and politician who served as both a state legislator from 2013 to 2017 and then as the 16th lieutenant governor of Washington from 2017 to 2021. He also served as the sta ...

was born in 1981. Amini obtained her law degree from the

University of Maryland School of Law The University of Maryland Francis King Carey School of Law (formerly University of Maryland School of Law from 1924 to 2011) is the law school of the University of Maryland, Baltimore and is located in Baltimore, Maryland. Founded in 1816, it i ...

, after which the family moved to Washington State.

Career

Amini practiced law for twenty-three years before being appointed to the bench, first as a public defender and then, beginning in 1994, in private practice at the Amini Law Firm, where she handled family law, immigration, civil, and criminal cases. She represented clients from over fifty countries of origin. She also served for many years as a Judge Pro Tempore in courts throughout the King County region.

Judicial service

Amini has served on the bench since 2013, presiding over cases ranging from criminal felony trials to multi-million dollar civil disputes.

Notable decisions

In 2018, she upheld historic tenant rights legislation passed by the City of Seattle in the face of litigation brought by landlords. In 2019, Amini ruled that one of the state's most widely used child abuse experts was unqualified, leading to a review of dozens of cases in which children had wrongfully been removed from their families.

Personal life

Amini's advocacy for her son,

, who became blind due to childhood cancer, often featured prominently in his political speeches and news coverage. She and her husband, engineer and investor Mo Habib, were married in 1980. He died from cancer in 2016. In 2020, she established the Mo Habib Memorial Foundation to celebrate his life and legacy. In 2022, the foundation entered into a partnership with the

University of Washington The University of Washington (UW and informally U-Dub or U Dub) is a public research university in Seattle, Washington, United States. Founded in 1861, the University of Washington is one of the oldest universities on the West Coast of the Uni ...

to establish the Mo Habib Translation Prize in Persian Literature, the first such prize in the country. Amini also sits on the board of the

Seattle Symphony Orchestra The Seattle Symphony is an American orchestra based in Seattle, Washington. Since 1998, the orchestra is resident at Benaroya Hall. The orchestra also serves as the accompanying orchestra for the Seattle Opera. History Beginnings The orchest ...

and the King County Law Library, and on the St. James Cathedral Parish Finance Council.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Amini, Susan Year of birth missing (living people) Living people 20th-century American lawyers 20th-century American women lawyers 21st-century American judges 21st-century American lawyers 21st-century American women judges 21st-century American women lawyers Iranian emigrants to the United States People from Tehran Public defenders Superior court judges in the United States University of Maryland Francis King Carey School of Law alumni University of Tehran alumni Washington (state) lawyers Washington (state) state court judges Iranian Roman Catholics Roman Catholic activists