Ernest Tuckett

Ernest A. Tuckett III is an accomplished corporate attorney and legal executive whose career has focused on advising senior executives and boards of directors on complex business, regulatory and legal matters. He currently serves as Chief Legal Officer and Executive Vice President of DC Water, where he oversees the Authority’s legal and government affairs functions. He joined the organization’s senior executive team in June 2026.

Prior to joining DC Water, Ernest held senior legal leadership positions with several major global companies, including Verisign, AkzoNobel and DuPont. He served as Vice President and Associate General Counsel at Verisign and previously as General Counsel for the Americas at AkzoNobel and General Counsel of DuPont Canada. Earlier in his career, Ernest spent approximately a decade with Arent Fox in Washington, D.C., where he practiced as a commercial litigator and employment lawyer. Throughout his career, he has led legal teams responsible for commercial, compliance, regulatory and litigation matters across multiple countries.

Ernest has also been a leader in efforts to expand opportunities for Black attorneys in corporate law. He co-founded the Black General Counsel 2025 Initiative, which was established to increase Black representation among general counsel and chief legal officers at major corporations. He has also served on the Board of Directors of the Association of Corporate Counsel and Street Law, Inc.

A longtime resident of the Washington, D.C. area, Ernest is a double graduate of Georgetown University. He earned his Bachelor of Arts in Government from Georgetown in 1992 and his Juris Doctor from Georgetown University Law Center in 1995. As an undergraduate, he served for two years as president of Georgetown’s Black Student Alliance.