Areas of Experience

Personal injury, wrongful death, product liability, medical malpractice, employment, labor, consumer class actions, mass torts, insurance disputes, defamation, professional liability, corporate disputes, contracts, environmental issues, construction, government issues, real estate, securities, copyright/trademark disputes, intellectual property, patents, Lanham Act (advertising and trade dress)

Professional Experience

• Certified Mediator, Supreme Court of Virginia.

• Judge, U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia, 1986-2017. Chief Judge, 2004-2011.

• Former Assistant United States Attorney, Eastern District of Virginia.

• Former Assistant United States Attorney, Major Crimes Division, District of Columbia.

• Former Attorney, U.S. Army Judge Advocate General’s Corp.

• Former Staff Attorney, Atlanta Legal Aid Society.

• Adjunct Professor, Trial Advocacy and Appellate Practice, University of Virginia.

Affiliations

• Appointed by Chief Justice William Rehnquist of the U.S. Supreme Court to the Defender Services Committee of the Judicial Conference. Served as Chairman of its subcommittee on Federal Death Penalty Prosecutions.

• Member, Judicial Counsel, National Bar Association.

• Fellow, Virginia Law Foundation.

• Virginia Bar Association: Member, Executive Committee of the Judicial Section; Member, Special Issues Committee.

• Member, Federal Judges Association.

• Member, American Judicature Society.

• Selected as “Leader of the Year” by Virginia’s 2015 Leaders in Law, Virginia Lawyers Weekly, 2015.

• Recipient, Person of the Year Award, Richmond Times-Dispatch, 2015.

• Recipient, Distinguished Virginian Award, Virginia Center for Inclusive Committees, 2015.

Education

• Harvard Law School, J.D., cum laude.

• Howard University, MDiv.

• Clark College, B.A., magna cum laude.