John Alton Reed Jr. (June 29, 1931 - February 19, 2015) was an American lawyer and

United States district judge The United States district courts are the trial courts of the United States federal judiciary, U.S. federal judiciary. There is one district court for each United States federal judicial district, federal judicial district, which each cover o ...

of the United States District Court for the Middle District of Florida.

Education and career

Born on June 29, 1931, in

Washington, D.C. ) , image_skyline = , image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, ...

, Reed received an

Artium Baccalaureus Bachelor of arts (BA or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts degree course is generally completed in three or four years ...

degree from

Duke University Duke University is a private research university in Durham, North Carolina. Founded by Methodists and Quakers in the present-day city of Trinity in 1838, the school moved to Durham in 1892. In 1924, tobacco and electric power industrialist James ...

in 1954. He received a

Bachelor of Laws Bachelor of Laws ( la, Legum Baccalaureus; LL.B.) is an undergraduate law degree in the United Kingdom and most common law jurisdictions. Bachelor of Laws is also the name of the law degree awarded by universities in the People's Republic of Chi ...

from Duke University School of Law in 1956. He was in private practice of law in

Tampa Tampa () is a city on the Gulf Coast of the U.S. state of Florida. The city's borders include the north shore of Tampa Bay and the east shore of Old Tampa Bay. Tampa is the largest city in the Tampa Bay area and the seat of Hillsborough County ...

Florida Florida is a state located in the Southeastern region of the United States. Florida is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the northwest by Alabama, to the north by Georgia, to the east by the Bahamas and Atlantic Ocean, and to ...

from 1956 to 1957. He was in private practice of law in Orlando, Florida from 1959 to 1967. He was a judge of the

Florida Fourth District Court of Appeal The Florida Fourth District Court of Appeal is headquartered in West Palm Beach, Florida. Its twelve judges have jurisdiction over cases arising in Palm Beach County, Broward County, St. Lucie County, Martin County, Indian River County, and Okeech ...

from 1967 to 1973. He was Chief Judge from 1971 to 1973.

Federal judicial service

Reed was nominated by President

Richard Nixon Richard Milhous Nixon (January 9, 1913April 22, 1994) was the 37th president of the United States, serving from 1969 to 1974. A member of the Republican Party, he previously served as a representative and senator from California and was ...

on July 6, 1973, to a seat on the United States District Court for the Middle District of Florida vacated by Judge William McRae. He was confirmed by the

United States Senate The United States Senate is the upper chamber of the United States Congress, with the House of Representatives being the lower chamber. Together they compose the national bicameral legislature of the United States. The composition and pow ...

on August 3, 1973, and received his commission on August 6, 1973. His service was terminated on December 31, 1984, due to his resignation.

Notable clerk

Anne C. Conway Anne C. Conway (born July 30, 1950) is an American lawyer and Senior United States district judge of the United States District Court for the Middle District of Florida. She is also serving as a Judge on the United States Foreign Intelligence Sur ...

, who later also was a judge of the United States District Court for the Middle District of Florida, was a

law clerk A law clerk or a judicial clerk is a person, generally someone who provides direct counsel and assistance to a lawyer or judge by researching issues and drafting legal opinions for cases before the court. Judicial clerks often play significant ...

for Reed.

Post judicial service

After his resignation from the federal bench, Reed returned to private practice in Orlando, where he was a named partner with the

firm A company, abbreviated as co., is a Legal personality, legal entity representing an association of people, whether Natural person, natural, Legal person, legal or a mixture of both, with a specific objective. Company members share a common p ...

of Lowndes, Drosdick, Doster, Kantor & Reed, P.A. After retirement, he became an arbitrator for Federal Arbitration, Inc., an arbitration firm specializing in federal cases. He died on February 19, 2015, at the

Transylvania Regional Hospital Transylvania Regional Hospital (TRH), formerly known as Transylvania Community Hospital, is a Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations accredited 94-bed community hospital. It was formed in 1933 and is located between downtown ...

located in downtown Brevard,

North Carolina North Carolina () is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States. The state is the 28th largest and 9th-most populous of the United States. It is bordered by Virginia to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the east, Georgia and So ...

. He resided in the nearby unincorporated community of

Sapphire Sapphire is a precious gemstone, a variety of the mineral corundum, consisting of aluminium oxide () with trace amounts of elements such as iron, titanium, chromium, vanadium, or magnesium. The name sapphire is derived via the Latin "sapphir ...

, North Carolina after his retirement from the practice of law.

References

Sources

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Reed, John Alton Jr. 1931 births 2015 deaths Judges of the United States District Court for the Middle District of Florida United States district court judges appointed by Richard Nixon 20th-century American judges Judges of the Florida District Courts of Appeal Duke University School of Law alumni People from Washington, D.C.