Virginia Maria Hernandez Covington (born July 12, 1955) is a

senior Senior (shortened as Sr.) means "the elder" in Latin and is often used as a suffix for the elder of two or more people in the same family with the same given name, usually a parent or grandparent. It may also refer to: * Senior (name), a surname ...

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

Early life and education

Covington was born on July 12, 1955, 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. She received her Bachelor of Science

degree Degree may refer to: As a unit of measurement * Degree (angle), a unit of angle measurement ** Degree of geographical latitude ** Degree of geographical longitude * Degree symbol (°), a notation used in science, engineering, and mathematics ...

cum laude Latin honors are a system of Latin phrases used in some colleges and universities to indicate the level of distinction with which an academic degree has been earned. The system is primarily used in the United States. It is also used in some Sou ...

'' from the University of Tampa in 1976, where she received the Outstanding Female Graduate Award. She received her Master of Business Administration from the University of Tampa in 1977 and her

Juris Doctor The Juris Doctor (J.D. or JD), also known as Doctor of Jurisprudence (J.D., JD, D.Jur., or DJur), is a graduate-entry professional degree in law and one of several Doctor of Law degrees. The J.D. is the standard degree obtained to practice law ...

from Georgetown University Law Center in 1980. At Georgetown she was elected to the ''Tax Lawyer''

law journal A law review or law journal is a scholarly journal or publication that focuses on legal issues. A law review is a type of legal periodical. Law reviews are a source of research, imbedded with analyzed and referenced legal topics; they also pr ...

Career

Covington served as a trial attorney for the

Federal Trade Commission The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) is an independent agency of the United States government whose principal mission is the enforcement of civil (non-criminal) antitrust law and the promotion of consumer protection. The FTC shares jurisdiction ov ...

from 1980 to 1981. She served as an assistant

state attorney In the United States, a district attorney (DA), county attorney, state's attorney, prosecuting attorney, commonwealth's attorney, or state attorney is the chief prosecutor and/or chief law enforcement officer representing a U.S. state in a loc ...

for the 13th Judicial Circuit of Florida ( Hillsborough County) from 1982 to 1983. Covington served as an Assistant U.S. Attorney for the Middle District of Florida from 1983 to 2001, working in the United States Department of Justice Civil Division from 1983 to 1988 and as Assistant U.S. Attorney as chief of the Asset Forfeiture Section in the United States Department of Justice Criminal Division from 1989 to 2001. On September 25, 2001, Florida Governor Jeb Bush appointed Covington to the Florida Second District Court of Appeal.

Federal judicial service

President George W. Bush nominated Covington to the United States District Court for the Middle District of Florida on April 20, 2004, to the seat vacated by Ralph Wilson Nimmons, Jr. She was confirmed by the

Senate A senate is a deliberative assembly, often the upper house or chamber of a bicameral legislature. The name comes from the ancient Roman Senate (Latin: ''Senatus''), so-called as an assembly of the senior (Latin: ''senex'' meaning "the el ...

on September 7, 2004, she received her commission three days later. Covington serves on the

Division of the court. She assumed senior status on July 12, 2020.

References

Sources

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Covington, Virginia Maria Hernandez 1955 births Living people 21st-century American judges Assistant United States Attorneys Federal Trade Commission personnel Florida state court judges Georgetown University Law Center alumni Hispanic and Latino American judges Judges of the Florida District Courts of Appeal Judges of the United States District Court for the Middle District of Florida Lawyers from Tampa, Florida State attorneys United States district court judges appointed by George W. Bush University of Tampa alumni 21st-century American women judges American judges of Cuban descent Florida Women's Hall of Fame Inductees Hispanic and Latino American lawyers

Early life and education

Career

Federal judicial service

See also

References

Sources