Peter Washington was born and raised in Chico before attending high school in the Sacramento area. He attended Oberlin College and graduated with honors in mathematics, with a second major in philosophy. He then attended UC Berkeley's Boalt Hall School of Law, where he received his Juris Doctorate in 2003.

Mr. Washington practiced civil litigation with the Oakland firm of Anthony & Carlson, later Anthony & Associates, from 2004 to 2011. While there he worked on numerous complex medical malpractice and employment cases. He has handled several cases in binding arbitration through a full evidentiary hearing, and assisted with jury trials. He has also written the briefs in several cases before the State and Federal courts of appeal, including successful writ petitions which resulted in reversal of adverse Superior Court rulings.

Mr. Washington returned home to Chico and joined Washington & Heithecker in 2012. His current practice includes civil litigation emphasizing medical malpractice defense, personal injury and public entity liability, as well as criminal defense.