The Washington and Lee University School of Law (W&L Law) is the professional graduate

law school A law school (also known as a law centre or college of law) is an institution specializing in legal education, usually involved as part of a process for becoming a lawyer within a given jurisdiction. Law degrees Argentina In Argentina, ...

Washington and Lee University , mottoeng = "Not Unmindful of the Future" , established = , type = Private liberal arts university , academic_affiliations = , endowment = $2.092 billion (2021) , president = William C. Dudley , provost = Lena Hill , city = Lexingto ...

. It is a private

American Bar Association The American Bar Association (ABA) is a voluntary bar association of lawyers and law students, which is not specific to any jurisdiction in the United States. Founded in 1878, the ABA's most important stated activities are the setting of acad ...

-accredited

located in Lexington in the

Shenandoah Valley The Shenandoah Valley () is a geographic valley and cultural region of western Virginia and the Eastern Panhandle of West Virginia. The valley is bounded to the east by the Blue Ridge Mountains, to the west by the eastern front of the Ridge- ...

region of

Virginia Virginia, officially the Commonwealth of Virginia, is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Southeastern regions of the United States, between the Atlantic Coast and the Appalachian Mountains. The geography and climate of the Commonwealth ar ...

. Facilities are on the historic campus of Washington and Lee University in Sydney Lewis Hall. W&L Law has a total enrollment of approximately 365 students in the

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 ...

program and a 6-to-1 student to faculty ratio.

History

The Lexington Law School, the precursor to W&L Law, was founded in 1849 by

United States federal judge In the United States, federal judges are judges who serve on courts established under Article Three of the U.S. Constitution. They include the chief justice and the associate justices of the U.S. Supreme Court, the circuit judges of the U.S. ...

John White Brockenbrough John White Brockenbrough (December 23, 1806 – February 20, 1877) was a Virginia attorney, law professor, U.S. District Judge of the United States District Court for the Western District of Virginia, and Confederate States congressman and distri ...

and is the 16th oldest active law school in the United States and the third-oldest in Virginia. The Law School was not integrated into Washington and Lee University (then known as Washington College) until after the

Civil War A civil war or intrastate war is a war between organized groups within the same state (or country). The aim of one side may be to take control of the country or a region, to achieve independence for a region, or to change government policies ...

when Robert E. Lee was

president President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) *President (education), a leader of a college or university *President (government title) President may also refer to: Automobiles * Nissan President, a 1966–2010 Japanese ful ...

of the university. In 1866, Lee annexed the school, known at the time as the School of Law and Equity, to the college and appointed Judge Brockenbrough as the first dean. In 1870, after Lee's death, the School of Law and Equity was renamed as the Washington and Lee University School of Law, in line with the college's name change in honor of Lee. Also in 1870, former Virginia Attorney General John Randolph Tucker was appointed to the faculty and later became Dean followed by his son

Henry St. George Tucker, Sr. Henry St. George Tucker Sr. (December 29, 1780 – August 28, 1848) was a Virginia jurist, law professor, and U.S. Congressman (1815–1819). Biography Tucker was born on Mattoax Plantation in Chesterfield County, Virginia on December 29, 1780, ...

In 1900, the law school moved into the newly built Tucker Hall in memory of Dean Tucker. Tucker Hall also housed the law school's first law library—the Vincent L. Bradford Law Library. After significant periods of growth, the law school moved into new Tucker Hall after the original building was destroyed in a fire and the law library was rebuilt with a grant from the

Carnegie Corporation of New York The Carnegie Corporation of New York is a philanthropic fund established by Andrew Carnegie in 1911 to support education programs across the United States, and later the world. Carnegie Corporation has endowed or otherwise helped to establis ...

. In 1920, W&L Law joined the

Association of American Law Schools The Association of American Law Schools (AALS), formed in 1900, is a non-profit organization of 176 law schools in the United States. An additional 19 schools pay a fee to receive services but are not members. AALS incorporated as a 501(c)(3) non ...

. The ''

Washington and Lee Law Review The ''Washington and Lee Law Review'' is a law review published four times each year by the Washington and Lee University School of Law and founded in 1939. It presents lead articles contributed by leading scholars, judges, and lawyers, as well ...

'' began publication in the Autumn of 1939 and is still in regular publication. After

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

, enrollment increased despite a period of low enrollment during the war. In 1950, the School of Law established its chapter of the

Order of the Coif The Order of the Coif is an honor society for United States law school graduates. The name is a reference to the ancient English order of advocates, the serjeants-at-law, whose courtroom attire included a coif—a white lawn or silk skullcap, whi ...

, one of only 80 such chapters in the country. The School of Law admitted its first female students in 1972, and opened its current home, Sydney Lewis Hall, in 1977. In 1992, the Lewis F. Powell, Jr. Wing was added to Sydney Lewis Hall and the Wilbur C. Hall Law Library at a dedication ceremony attended by Justice Powell and presided over by Chief Justice

William Rehnquist William Hubbs Rehnquist ( ; October 1, 1924 – September 3, 2005) was an American attorney and jurist who served on the U.S. Supreme Court for 33 years, first as an associate justice from 1972 to 1986 and then as the 16th chief justice from ...

. In 2008, Dean

Rodney Smolla Rodney A. Smolla, is an American author, First Amendment scholar and lawyer. He is currently the president of the Vermont Law School, and former dean of the Widener University Delaware Law School until spring 2022. He was the 11th president of Fu ...

announced the new third-year program, which became compulsory for W&L Law students in 2011 under Interim Dean Mark Grunewald. This new program turned the entire third year into an experiential curriculum which emphasizes practice, professionalism, and service.

Nora Demleitner Nora V. Demleitner (born 1966) is the President of St. Johns College - Annapolis (2022–present). Prior to this she served as the Dean of Washington and Lee University School of Law from 2012-2015 and Dean of Hofstra University School of Law fr ...

served as Dean from 2012 through 2015, the only woman to hold the position, during which time the school completed its $35 million campaign, ''Honor Our Past, Build Our Future'', renovated Lewis Hall, established the Washington, DC portion of W&L's third-year program, and significantly increased the employment and bar passage rates of its graduates. On July 1, 2015, Brant J. Hellwig became Dean of the law school, the 18th Dean since 1849. Also in 2015, W&L Law formed an academic and professional partnership with the Future of Privacy Forum, an information privacy think tank in

Washington, DC ) , 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 ...

. The Future of Privacy Forum will facilitate professional, research, and curricular development and the Washington, DC portion of W&L's third-year program will move into its offices.

Facilities

Sydney Lewis Hall is the home of the school of law on the historic campus of Washington and Lee in Lexington, Virginia. Lewis Hall was built in 1977 with a $9 million gift from

Best Products Best Products Company, Inc., or simply Best, was a chain of United States, American catalog showroom retail stores founded by Sydney and Frances Lewis in 1957 and formerly headquartered in Richmond, Virginia. The company was in existence for four ...

founder Sydney Lewis and his wife Frances of Virginia. Lewis Hall was designed by Marcellus Wright Cox & Smith Architects in the Mid-century modern style. In addition to lecture halls, classrooms, and offices for faculty and staff, Lewis Hall houses the 150-seat Millhiser Moot Courtroom with the accompanying Robert E. Stroud Judge's Chambers and the Roger D. Groot Jury Room. The Millhiser Moot Courtroom serves as the continuity of operations site for the

United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit The United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit (in case citations, Fed. Cir. or C.A.F.C.) is a United States court of appeals that has special appellate jurisdiction over certain types of specialized cases in the Federal judiciary of ...

. Lewis Hall also has a cafeteria for students, staff, and faculty called the Brief Stop, which serves food, snacks, and drinks. As part of its $35 million campaign completed in 2015, ''Honor Our Past, Build Our Future'', the School of Law renovated and modernized the facilities. The project resulted in more flexible space for student collaboration and study, new homes for four of the school's legal clinics and student organizations, more natural lighting, a new library reading room, a new high-tech trial courtroom, and an improved entry sequence and navigation for the building. Lewis Hall's cornerstones are the Wilbur C. Hall Law Library and Lewis F. Powell, Jr. Wing. The Wilbur C. Hall Law Library is a Federal Depository Library for the U.S. Government and includes a separate faculty library, a rare book room, and an audio-visual media center and is open 24-hours a day. The library houses more than 492,000 volumes and is unique in offering each student personally designated work and storage space. The Powell Wing was built in 1992 to house the professional and personal papers and archives of the

United States Supreme Court Justice The Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) is the highest court in the federal judiciary of the United States. It has ultimate appellate jurisdiction over all U.S. federal court cases, and over state court cases that involve a point of ...

and noted W&L alum as well as other manuscript collections, rare books, and archives of the law school. The Powell Wing includes an expanded main reading room space, in addition to stack area and work space for the papers. The archives are managed by full-time staff and are open to researchers, faculty, and students.

Programs and admissions

W&L Law's full-time

program, one of the smallest in the country, is the primary degree-program at the Law School. The Class of 2021 numbered 131 students with a median

LSAT The Law School Admission Test (LSAT; ) is a standardized test administered by the Law School Admission Council (LSAC) for prospective law school candidates. It is designed to assess reading comprehension as well as logical and verbal rea ...

of 163 and a median undergraduate

grade point average Grading in education is the process of applying standardized measurements for varying levels of achievements in a course. Grades can be assigned as letters (usually A through F), as a range (for example, 1 to 6), as a percentage, or as a numbe ...

of 3.50. International exchange programs are available for Juris Doctor students with

Trinity College Trinity College may refer to: Australia * Trinity Anglican College, an Anglican coeducational primary and secondary school in , New South Wales * Trinity Catholic College, Auburn, a coeducational school in the inner-western suburbs of Sydney, New ...

Dublin Dublin (; , or ) is the capital and largest city of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. On a bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster, bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, a part of th ...

and the

University of Copenhagen The University of Copenhagen ( da, Københavns Universitet, KU) is a prestigious public university, public research university in Copenhagen, Copenhagen, Denmark. Founded in 1479, the University of Copenhagen is the second-oldest university in ...

Copenhagen Copenhagen ( or .; da, København ) is the capital and most populous city of Denmark, with a proper population of around 815.000 in the last quarter of 2022; and some 1.370,000 in the urban area; and the wider Copenhagen metropolitan ar ...

Rankings and reputation

Washington and Lee University School of Law ranked 35th in the 2023 '' U.S. News & World Report'' national ranking of America's law schools. Since the ''U.S. News'' rankings of law schools were first released in 1987, W&L Law has had an average ranking of 26th nationally.

Brian Leiter Brian Leiter (; born 1963) is an American philosopher and legal scholar who is Karl N. Llewellyn Professor of Jurisprudence at the University of Chicago Law School and founder and Director of Chicago's Center for Law, Philosophy & Human Values. ...

ranked W&L Law's endowment-per-student as 14th in the country, at $214,000 per student, when adjusted for cost-of-living. Above the Law ranked W&L Law 22nd nationally in their 2019 Top 50 Law Schools rankings and, in 2017, 4th nationally in their rankings for the top-rated law schools when measuring alumni satisfaction. ''National Jurist'' ranked W&L Law 15th in its list of best law schools for standard of living and 18th in its ranking of the best law libraries. The 2013 edition of ''On Being a Black Lawyer: The Black Student's Guide to Law Schools'', ranked W&L Law 25th in its rankings of the best law schools for black law students. In 2013, ''National Jurist'' named W&L's law faculty as the 10th most influential in legal education (the only entire faculty on the list) and 18th in 2014 as well as awarding W&L Law's practical training program a B+ grade in its 2014 listing of the best law schools for practical training. ''National Jurist'' also ranked W&L Law as the 5th best value private law school in 2016 in the United States. A ranking of scholarly impact published in the '' University of St. Thomas Law Journal'' ranked the faculty 30th nationally. A 2015 ranking by

Business Insider ''Insider'', previously named ''Business Insider'' (''BI''), is an American financial and business news website founded in 2007. Since 2015, a majority stake in ''Business Insider''s parent company Insider Inc. has been owned by the German publ ...

, listed W&L Law as the 17th best law schools in the United States to make connections and get a job. Washington and Lee's ''The Law News'' has been awarded the ABA's award of the finest law school student newspaper four times, including three years in a row, in 1985, 2013, 2014, and 2015. In 2016, ''National Jurist'' included W&L Law on its list of one of the twelve best value private law schools in the United States.

Bar exam results

W&L's Virginia

bar Bar or BAR may refer to: Food and drink * Bar (establishment), selling alcoholic beverages * Candy bar * Chocolate bar Science and technology * Bar (river morphology), a deposit of sediment * Bar (tropical cyclone), a layer of cloud * Bar (u ...

passage rate on the July 2017 exam was 86.67% (the state average was 76.43%); W&L had the highest combined average passage rate among Virginia schools for the July 2014 and 2015 exams. W&L's New York bar passage rate on the July 2015 exam was 92.86% (the state average for ABA law school graduates was 79%). Nationally, W&L Class of 2014 graduates had a 90% passage rate on bar exams in all states. W&L Law was ranked as having the 20th best bar passage rate nationally based on Class of 2015 data.

Post-graduation employment

Based on Class of 2015 data, 85% of W&L Law graduates obtained full-time, long term JD-required or preferred jobs within 10 months of graduation. 50% of the 2015 graduates obtained full-time long-term jobs in law firms (including 21% of graduates getting full-time, long term jobs in firms greater than 100 lawyers) and 19% of 2015 graduates obtained clerkships. The large law firms which employed the most W&L Law graduates were

Hunton Andrews Kurth Hunton Andrews Kurth LLP is an American law firm created by the merger of Hunton & Williams LLP and Andrews Kurth Kenyon LLP on April 2, 2018. The firm has offices in 20 cities, primarily in the United States. History Hunton & Williams (formerl ...

Alston & Bird Alston & Bird LLP is an international law firm with over 800 lawyers in 13 offices throughout the United States, Europe, the UK, and Asia. The firm provides legal services to both domestic and international clients who conduct business worldwide ...

McGuireWoods McGuireWoods LLP is a US-based international law firm. Their largest offices are in Richmond, Virginia, Charlotte, North Carolina and Chicago, Illinois. History 1800s–1960s McGuireWoods traces its origins to two lawyers, Egbert R. Watson and ...

K&L Gates K&L Gates LLP is an American multinational corporation law firm based in the United States, with international offices in Asia, Australia, Europe, the Middle East, and South America. Its namesake firms are Kirkpatrick & Lockhart, a Pittsburgh-ba ...

, and

King & Spalding King & Spalding LLP is an American international corporate law firm that is headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia and with offices located in North America, Europe, the Middle East and Asia. It has over 1,200 lawyers in 23 offices globally. It is A ...

. The School of Law ranked 18th on the 2012 ''U.S. News ranking of law schools by recruiters from the top national law firms and 19th on the 2015 ''U.S News'' ranking of law schools that send the most students to clerk for a

(6.9%). The ''

National Law Journal ''The National Law Journal'' (NLJ) is an American legal periodical founded in 1978. The NLJ was created by Jerry Finkelstein, who envisioned it as a "sibling newspaper" of the ''New York Law Journal''. Originally a tabloid-sized weekly newspape ...

'' ranked W&L Law 33rd in its 2015 "Go-To Law Schools" list of law schools that send the highest percentage of students to the 250 largest law firms in the United States.

Juris Doctor curriculum

The Juris Doctor curriculum at W&L consists three unique and integrated years of full-time study with a mix of traditional

casebook method The casebook method, similar to but not exactly the same as the case method, is the primary method of teaching law in law schools in the United States. It was pioneered at Harvard Law School by Christopher Columbus Langdell. It is based on the pr ...

and practice-oriented courses. ;First-year In the 1L year, students take required foundational courses in

contract law A contract is a legally enforceable agreement between two or more parties that creates, defines, and governs mutual rights and obligations between them. A contract typically involves the transfer of goods, services, money, or a promise to tran ...

tort law A tort is a civil wrong that causes a claimant to suffer loss or harm, resulting in legal liability for the person who commits the tortious act. Tort law can be contrasted with criminal law, which deals with criminal wrongs that are punishable ...

civil procedure Civil procedure is the body of law that sets out the rules and standards that courts follow when adjudicating civil lawsuits (as opposed to procedures in criminal law matters). These rules govern how a lawsuit or case may be commenced; what ki ...

criminal law Criminal law is the body of law that relates to crime. It prescribes conduct perceived as threatening, harmful, or otherwise endangering to the property, health, safety, and moral welfare of people inclusive of one's self. Most criminal law i ...

property law Property law is the area of law that governs the various forms of ownership in real property (land) and personal property. Property refers to legally protected claims to resources, such as land and personal property, including intellectual pro ...

professional responsibility Professional responsibility is a set of duties within the concept of professional ethics for those who exercise a unique set of knowledge and skill as professionals. Professional responsibility applies to those professionals making judgments, a ...

administrative law Administrative law is the division of law that governs the activities of government agency, executive branch agencies of Forms of government, government. Administrative law concerns executive branch rule making (executive branch rules are gener ...

, and

international law International law (also known as public international law and the law of nations) is the set of rules, norms, and standards generally recognized as binding between states. It establishes normative guidelines and a common conceptual framework for ...

. Additionally, each student is assigned a small section in which one substantive required course also serves as a

legal writing Legal writing involves the analysis of fact patterns and presentation of arguments in documents such as legal memoranda and briefs. One form of legal writing involves drafting a balanced analysis of a legal problem or issue. Another form of lega ...

course. This small section consists of approximately 20 students. 1Ls are also assigned to an upper-level student from the Burks Scholar Program who teaches

legal research Legal research is "the process of identifying and retrieving information necessary to support legal decision-making. In its broadest sense, legal research includes each step of a course of action that begins with an analysis of the facts of a prob ...

and

Bluebook ''The Bluebook: A Uniform System of Citation'' is a style guide that prescribes the most widely used legal citation system in the United States. It is taught and used at a majority of U.S. law schools and is also used in a majority of federal ...

methods. ;Second-year In the 2L year, students focus on advanced coursework. W&L requires

evidence law The law of evidence, also known as the rules of evidence, encompasses the rules and legal principles that govern the proof of facts in a legal proceeding. These rules determine what evidence must or must not be considered by the trier of f ...

and

constitutional law Constitutional law is a body of law which defines the role, powers, and structure of different entities within a State (polity), state, namely, the executive (government), executive, the parliament or legislature, and the judiciary; as well as th ...

in the second-year as well as the completion of an upper-level writing requirement. The writing requirement can be satisfied through a seminar course, through an independent writing project, or a note in one of the law journals. All other courses in the 2L year are electives and commonly include corporate law and

tax law Tax law or revenue law is an area of legal study in which public or sanctioned authorities, such as federal, state and municipal governments (as in the case of the US) use a body of rules and procedures (laws) to assess and collect taxes in a ...

as well as many other classes and seminars. Since establishing the practice-based curriculum, W&L incorporated its experiential curricular offerings, such as practicum courses, into the second-year in addition to casebook-oriented electives. ;Third-year The new third-year program, which began in the fall of 2010, replaced further elective advanced coursework based on the casebook method as is the norm in most ABA law schools. Instead, the program is meant to simulate client experiences. The 3L year requires students to exercise professional judgment, work in teams, solve problems, counsel clients, negotiate solutions, serve as advocates and counselors — the full complement of professional activity that engages practicing lawyers as they apply legal theory and doctrines to the real-world issues of serving clients ethically and honorably within the highest traditions of the profession. The Fall semester begins with an immersion course. Students are allowed to choose one of two courses for the two-week immersion. Immersion focuses on either

litigation - A lawsuit is a proceeding by a party or parties against another in the civil court of law. The archaic term "suit in law" is found in only a small number of laws still in effect today. The term "lawsuit" is used in reference to a civil actio ...

and

alternative dispute resolution Alternative dispute resolution (ADR), or external dispute resolution (EDR), typically denotes a wide range of dispute resolution processes and techniques that parties can use to settle disputes with the help of a third party. They are used for ...

or transactional practice. Each student is then enrolled in practicum courses of their choosing. These courses cover substantive and advanced law but do so through practical methods of drafting paperwork and problem-solving rather than casebook and the

socratic method The Socratic method (also known as method of Elenchus, elenctic method, or Socratic debate) is a form of cooperative argumentative dialogue between individuals, based on asking and answering questions to stimulate critical thinking and to draw ...

. Students are also required to take a course in the

legal profession Legal profession is a profession in which legal professionals study, develop and apply law. Usually, there is a requirement for someone choosing a career in law to first obtain a law degree or some other form of legal education. It is difficult to ...

as well as a law-related service requirement. Finally, each student is required to be involved in one of W&L's legal clinics, externship programs, or transnational programs to gain real-client experience. The program is flexible and allows students the ability to tailor their schedule and, if they wish, to take several traditional casebook method courses.

The Honor System

The

Honor System An honor system or honesty system is a philosophical way of running a variety of endeavors based on trust, honor, and honesty. Something that operates under the rule of the "honor system" is usually something that does not have strictly enf ...

has been run by the student body since 1905 and is derived from Robert E. Lee during his tenure as

President President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) *President (education), a leader of a college or university *President (government title) President may also refer to: Automobiles * Nissan President, a 1966–2010 Japanese ful ...

of the University. Any student found guilty of an Honor Violation by his or her peers is subject to a single penalty: expulsion. The Honor System is defined and administered solely by students, and there is no higher review. A formal review, occasionally including referendums, is held every three years to refine the tenets of the Honor System. Students continue to support the Honor System and its single penalty overwhelmingly, and alumni regularly point to the Honor System as one of the distinctive marks they carry with them from their W&L experience. W&L Law students enjoy several distinct benefits from the Honor System. These include more freedom in exam taking as well as an informal account system at the Brief Stop cafeteria in Sydney Lewis Hall. These are balanced by the strict penalty of a violation of the Honor System.

Clinics, journals, moot court, and centers

Notable alumni

US Supreme Court Justice Lewis Powell - 1976 official portrait

Academia * Ronald J. Bacigal 1967 — Professor of law,

University of Richmond School of Law The University of Richmond School of Law (Richmond Law) is a school of the University of Richmond, located in Richmond, Virginia. Richmond Law is ranked 52nd (tie) in the US by ''US News'', among the ''top five value'' law schools by the ''Natio ...

Charles A. Graves Charles Alfred Graves (October 20, 1850 – November 10, 1928) was a legal scholar and law professor, who taught at the law schools of Washington and Lee University and the University of Virginia. Biography Charles A. Graves was born on Mechums ...

1872 - Professor at W&L Law and at the University of Virginia School of Law *

Robert Huntley Robert E. R. Huntley (1929 – December 10, 2015) was an American attorney, businessman, retired law professor, and former president of Washington and Lee University. He graduated from Washington and Lee in 1950 and its law school in 1957. He ...

1950, 1957 - Former Dean of W&L Law, former

President of Washington and Lee University Washington and Lee University is led by a president selected by the Board of Trustees. The university was founded in 1749 as Augusta Academy. It later became Liberty Hall Academy (1782), Washington Academy (1798), Washington College (1813), and fi ...

, former President, Chairman, and CEO of

Robert Shepherd Robert E. Shepherd Jr. (September 11, 1937 – December 11, 2008) was professor of law at the University of Richmond School of Law from 1978 until his retirement in 2001. After retirement, he served as professor emeritus and continued teachi ...

1959, 1961 —

Professor emeritus ''Emeritus'' (; female: ''emerita'') is an adjective used to designate a retired chair, professor, pastor, bishop, pope, director, president, prime minister, rabbi, emperor, or other person who has been "permitted to retain as an honorary title ...

of law,

Arts and entertainment *

Terry Brooks Terence Dean Brooks (born January 8, 1944) is an American writer of fantasy fiction. He writes mainly epic fantasy, and has also written two film novelizations. He has written 23 ''New York Times'' bestsellers during his writing career, and ha ...

1969 — New York Times bestselling author of

fantasy fiction Fantasy is a genre of speculative fiction involving magical elements, typically set in a fictional universe and sometimes inspired by mythology and folklore. Its roots are in oral traditions, which then became fantasy literature and drama. ...

and creator of the

Shannara ''Shannara'' is a series of high fantasy novels written by Terry Brooks, beginning with ''The Sword of Shannara'' in 1977 and concluding with ''The Last Druid'' which was released in October 2020; there is also a prequel, '' First King of Shan ...

fantasy series * David Brown 2000 - Former host of the ''

Marketplace A marketplace or market place is a location where people regularly gather for the purchase and sale of provisions, livestock, and other goods. In different parts of the world, a marketplace may be described as a '' souk'' (from the Arabic), ' ...

'' radio program, current anchor of the Texas Standard * Gay Elmore - Two time

Southern Conference Men's Basketball Player of the Year Southern may refer to: Businesses * China Southern Airlines, airline based in Guangzhou, China * Southern Airways, defunct US airline * Southern Air, air cargo transportation company based in Norwalk, Connecticut, US * Southern Airways Express, ...

Business * Sydney Lewis 1940, 1943 - Prominent Virginia businessman, art collector, and founder of

, recipient with his wife, Frances, in 1987, of the National Medal of the Arts *

Gordon P. Robertson Gordon Perry Robertson (born June 4, 1958) is an American televangelist who is the CEO of the Christian Broadcasting Network. He is the main host of ''The 700 Club'', the show founded by his father, Pat Robertson. Biography Robertson graduated ...

- CEO of the

Christian Broadcasting Network The Christian Broadcasting Network (CBN) is an American Christian media production and distribution organization. Founded in 1960 by Pat Robertson, it produces the long-running TV series ''The 700 Club'', co-produces the ongoing ''Superbook'' an ...

Government and politics * Samuel B. Avis -

United States Congressman The United States House of Representatives, often referred to as the House of Representatives, the U.S. House, or simply the House, is the lower chamber of the United States Congress, with the Senate being the upper chamber. Together they c ...

from

West Virginia West Virginia is a state in the Appalachian, Mid-Atlantic and Southeastern regions of the United States.The Census Bureau and the Association of American Geographers classify West Virginia as part of the Southern United States while the Bur ...

from 1913 to 1915 * Robert D. Bailey, Jr. -

West Virginia Secretary of State The Secretary of State of West Virginia is an elected office within the U.S. state of West Virginia state government. The secretary of state is responsible for overseeing the state's election process, including voter registration and election res ...

from 1965 to 1969 *

Newton D. Baker Newton Diehl Baker Jr. (December 3, 1871 – December 25, 1937) was an American lawyer, Georgist,Noble, Ransom E. "Henry George and the Progressive Movement." The American Journal of Economics and Sociology, vol. 8, no. 3, 1949, pp. 259–269. w ...

1894 —

Secretary of War The secretary of war was a member of the U.S. president's Cabinet, beginning with George Washington's administration. A similar position, called either "Secretary at War" or "Secretary of War", had been appointed to serve the Congress of the ...

under President

Woodrow Wilson Thomas Woodrow Wilson (December 28, 1856February 3, 1924) was an American politician and academic who served as the 28th president of the United States from 1913 to 1921. A member of the Democratic Party, Wilson served as the president of ...

, Mayor of Cleveland, Ohio, and named partner at

BakerHostetler BakerHostetler is an American law firm founded in 1916. One of the firm's founders, Newton D. Baker, was U.S. Secretary of War during World War I, and former Mayor of Cleveland, Ohio. History , the firm was ranked the 73rd-largest law firm in ...

* Franklin Brockson - United States Congressman from

Delaware Delaware ( ) is a state in the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States, bordering Maryland to its south and west; Pennsylvania to its north; and New Jersey and the Atlantic Ocean to its east. The state takes its name from the adjacent Del ...

from 1913 to 1915 *

Clarence J. Brown Clarence James Brown, Sr. (July 14, 1893 – August 23, 1965), was an American newspaper publisher and politician; he represented Ohio as a Republican in the United States House of Representatives from 1939 until his death in Bethesda, Marylan ...

1915 - President of

Brown Publishing Company Brown Publishing Company was a privately owned Cincinnati, Ohio, newspaper business started by Congressman Clarence J. Brown in Blanchester, Ohio in 1920. It ended 90 years of operations in August/September 2010 with its bankruptcy and sale of ass ...

and US Congressman from Ohio from 1939 to 1965 *

Nathan P. Bryan Nathan Philemon Bryan (April 23, 1872 – August 8, 1935) was a United States senator from Florida and a United States circuit judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit. Education and career Born on April 23, 1872, in Fo ...

1895 - US Senator from the State of Florida, Judge on the

United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit The United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit (in case citations, 5th Cir.) is a federal court with appellate jurisdiction over the district courts in the following federal judicial districts: * Eastern District of Louisiana * M ...

William James Bryan William James Bryan (October 10, 1876 – March 22, 1908) was an American politician, attorney, and prosecutor who was a Democratic U.S. Senator from the American state of Florida. Bryan's stint in the Senate was brief, having been appointe ...

1899 - US Senator from Florida * Bruce L. Castor, Jr. 1986 — Attorney General (interim) and Solicitor General of Pennsylvania; District Attorney,

Montgomery County, Pennsylvania Montgomery County is a county in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. It is the third-most populous county in Pennsylvania and the 73rd-most populous county in the United States. As of the 2020 census, the population of the county was 856,55 ...

(2000–2008); Commissioner, Montgomery County, Pennsylvania (2008-2016 ); President Pennsylvania District Attorneys' Association; Presidential Impeachment Counsel 2021 * Edward Cooper - US Congressman from West Virginia from 1915 to 1919 * Spencer Cox 2001 -

Governor of Utah A governor is an administrative leader and head of a polity or political region, ranking under the head of state and in some cases, such as governors-general, as the head of state's official representative. Depending on the type of political ...

* William Fadjo Cravens - US Congressman from Arkansas * John J. Davis 1856 -

United States Representative The United States House of Representatives, often referred to as the House of Representatives, the U.S. House, or simply the House, is the lower chamber of the United States Congress, with the Senate being the upper chamber. Together they ...

from

John W. Davis John William Davis (April 13, 1873 – March 24, 1955) was an American politician, diplomat and lawyer. He served under President Woodrow Wilson as the Solicitor General of the United States and the United States Ambassador to the United Kingdom ...

1895, 1892 — 1924 Democratic nominee for

United States President The president of the United States (POTUS) is the head of state and head of government of the United States of America. The president directs the executive branch of the federal government and is the commander-in-chief of the United State ...

; Ambassador to

Britain Britain most often refers to: * The United Kingdom, a sovereign state in Europe comprising the island of Great Britain, the north-eastern part of the island of Ireland and many smaller islands * Great Britain, the largest island in the United King ...

; Solicitor General; argued more cases before the Supreme Court than anyone else in the twentieth century;

President; first President of the

Council on Foreign Relations The Council on Foreign Relations (CFR) is an American think tank A think tank, or policy institute, is a research institute that performs research and advocacy concerning topics such as social policy, political strategy, economics, mi ...

; and named partner at

Davis Polk & Wardwell Davis Polk & Wardwell LLP, better known as Davis Polk is a white-shoe, international law firm headquartered in New York City with 980 attorneys worldwide and offices in Washington, D.C., Northern California, London, Paris, Madrid, Hong Kong, Be ...

Joe Donnelly Joseph Simon Donnelly Sr. (born September 29, 1955) is an American attorney, politician, and diplomat who served as a United States senator from Indiana from 2013 to 2019. Since 2022, he has served as the United States Ambassador to the Holy Se ...

1981- United States Senator from

Indiana Indiana () is a U.S. state in the Midwestern United States. It is the 38th-largest by area and the 17th-most populous of the 50 States. Its capital and largest city is Indianapolis. Indiana was admitted to the United States as the 19th s ...

John P. Fishwick, Jr. John Palmer Fishwick Jr. (born 1957) is an attorney in Roanoke, Virginia who served as U.S. Attorney for the Western District of Virginia. Born in Roanoke, Virginia, John is a graduate of Harvard College. He graduated in 1979. Fishwick furthered ...

, former

United States Attorney United States attorneys are officials of the U.S. Department of Justice who serve as the chief federal law enforcement officers in each of the 94 U.S. federal judicial districts. Each U.S. attorney serves as the United States' chief federal c ...

for the Western District of Virginia. Attorney in private practice in

Roanoke, Virginia Roanoke ( ) is an independent city in the U.S. state of Virginia. At the 2020 census, the population was 100,011, making it the 8th most populous city in the Commonwealth of Virginia and the largest city in Virginia west of Richmond. It is lo ...

. * Vance A. Funk, III 1968 -

Mayor In many countries, a mayor is the highest-ranking official in a municipal government such as that of a city or a town. Worldwide, there is a wide variance in local laws and customs regarding the powers and responsibilities of a mayor as well a ...

Newark, Delaware Newark ( )Not as in Newark, New Jersey. is a small city in New Castle County, Delaware, New Castle County, Delaware, United States. It is located west-southwest of Wilmington, Delaware, Wilmington. According to the 2010 United States Census, ...

* John Goode - 3rd

Solicitor General of the United States The solicitor general of the United States is the fourth-highest-ranking official in the United States Department of Justice. Elizabeth Prelogar has been serving in the role since October 28, 2021. The United States solicitor general represent ...

and

from Virginia *

Bob Goodlatte Robert William Goodlatte (; born September 22, 1952) is an American politician, attorney, and lobbyist who served in the United States House of Representatives representing for 13 terms. A Republican, he was also the Chair of the House Judiciar ...

1977 - United States Congressman from Virginia and Chair of the

United States House Committee on the Judiciary The U.S. House Committee on the Judiciary, also called the House Judiciary Committee, is a standing committee of the United States House of Representatives. It is charged with overseeing the administration of justice within the federal courts, a ...

* R. Booth Goodwin 1996 -

for the

Southern District of West Virginia The United States District Court for the Southern District of West Virginia (in case citations, S.D. W. Va.) is a federal court in the Fourth Circuit (except for patent claims and claims against the U.S. government under the Tucker Act, which are ...

Morgan Griffith Howard Morgan Griffith (born March 15, 1958) is an American lawyer and politician who has been the U.S. representative for Virginia's 9th congressional district since 2011. The district covers a large swath of southwestern Virginia, including the ...

1983 - Congressman from Virginia
Ondray T. Harris
- Executive director of the Public Employee Relations Board of the

District of Columbia ) , 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, ...

James Hay James Hay may refer to: *James Hay (bishop) (died 1538), Scottish abbot and bishop * James Hay, 1st Earl of Carlisle (c.1580–1636), British noble * James Hay, 2nd Earl of Carlisle (1612–1660), British noble * James Hay, 15th Earl of Erroll (172 ...

1877 -

from Virginia and Federal Judge on the

United States Court of Claims The Court of Claims was a federal court that heard claims against the United States government. It was established in 1855, renamed in 1948 to the United States Court of Claims (), and abolished in 1982. Then, its jurisdiction was assumed by the n ...

George Washington Hays George Washington Hays (September 23, 1863September 15, 1927) was an American politician who served as the 24th Governor of Arkansas from 1913 to 1917. Biography Hays was born in Camden, Arkansas. He attended public schools in Camden and worke ...

Governor of Arkansas A governor is an administrative leader and head of a polity or political region, ranking under the head of state and in some cases, such as governors-general, as the head of state's official representative. Depending on the type of political r ...

from 1913 to 1917 * Homer A. Holt 1918, 1923 -

Governor of West Virginia A governor is an administrative leader and head of a polity or political region, ranking under the head of state and in some cases, such as governors-general, as the head of state's official representative. Depending on the type of political r ...

from 1937 to 1941 * James Murray Hooker 1896 - US Congressman from Virginia *

James L. Kemper James Lawson Kemper (June 11, 1823 – April 7, 1895) was a lawyer, a Confederate general in the American Civil War, and the 37th Governor of Virginia. He was the youngest brigade commander and only non-professional military officer in the div ...

- 1842, Governor of Virginia, Confederate General Leading Pickett's Charge *

Ruby Laffoon Ruby Laffoon (January 15, 1869March 1, 1941) was an American attorney and politician who served as the 43rd Governor of Kentucky from 1931 to 1935. A Kentucky native, at age 17 Laffoon moved to Washington, D.C., to live with his uncle, U.S. Rep ...

1890 - Governor of Kentucky *

Edwin Gray Lee Edwin Gray Lee (May 27, 1836 – August 24, 1870) was an American soldier from Virginia and a Confederate brigadier general during the American Civil War. He was a member of the Lee family and first cousin once removed of Robert E. Lee. Bio ...

1859 -

Brigadier General Brigadier general or Brigade general is a military rank used in many countries. It is the lowest ranking general officer in some countries. The rank is usually above a colonel, and below a major general or divisional general. When appointed ...

in the

Confederate States of America The Confederate States of America (CSA), commonly referred to as the Confederate States or the Confederacy was an unrecognized breakaway republic in the Southern United States that existed from February 8, 1861, to May 9, 1865. The Confeder ...

* Scott Marion Loftin 1899 - US Senator from Florida and president of the

Mary Beth Long Mary Beth Long is an American foreign policy expert, entrepreneur, and former U.S. Government official. From 2007–2009, Long served as the first woman confirmed by the U.S. Senate as an Assistant Secretary of Defense, and as such, was the first f ...

1998 - Former

Assistant Secretary of Defense for International Security Affairs In the United States, the Assistant Secretary of Defense for International Security Affairs or ASD (ISA) is the principal advisor to the Under Secretary of Defense for Policy (USD (P)) and the United States Secretary of Defense on internationa ...

at the

United States Department of Defense The United States Department of Defense (DoD, USDOD or DOD) is an executive branch department of the federal government charged with coordinating and supervising all agencies and functions of the government directly related to national secu ...

and former attorney with Williams & Connolly LLP *

John Otho Marsh, Jr. John Otho Marsh Jr. (August 7, 1926 – February 4, 2019) was an American politician and an adjunct professor at George Mason University School of Law. Early life Marsh was born in Winchester, Virginia, Winchester, Virginia. He graduated from ...

1951 - Secretary of the Army, 1981–1989, United States Congressman * Henry M. Mathews 1857 -

Addkison-Simmons, D. (2010). Henry Mason Mathews. ''e-WV: The West Virginia Encyclopedia''. Retrieved December 11, 2012, from http://www.wvencyclopedia.org/articles/1582 *

Robert Murphy Mayo Robert Murphy Mayo (April 28, 1836 – March 29, 1896) was a Virginia lawyer, Confederate States Army, Confederate officer and politician who served in the Virginia House of Delegates and briefly in the United States House of Representatives ...

1859 -

from Virginia *

Thomas Chipman McRae Thomas Chipman McRae (December 21, 1851June 2, 1929) was an American attorney and politician from Arkansas. He served as a Democratic member of the United States House of Representatives (1885 to 1903) and the 26th Governor of Arkansas, from ...

- Governor of Arkansas, United States Representative *

Mark Obenshain Mark Dudley Obenshain (born June 11, 1962) is an American Attorney at law, attorney and politician. He is currently serving as a member of the Senate of Virginia from Harrisonburg, Virginia, Harrisonburg. He is a member of the Republican Party of ...

1987 - Member of the Senate of Virginia and Republican nominee for

Attorney General of Virginia The attorney general of Virginia is an elected constitutional position that holds an executive office in the government of Virginia. Attorneys general are elected for a four-year term in the year following a presidential election. There are no ...

in the 2013 Virginia election * Mark J. Peake 1988 - Member of the Senate of Virginia *

Miles Poindexter Miles Poindexter (April 22, 1868September 21, 1946) was an American lawyer and politician. As a Republican Party (United States), Republican and briefly a Progressive Party 1912 (United States), Progressive, he served one term as a United States ...

1891 - Senator from the State of Washington * Lacey E. Putney — Longest serving member of the

Virginia House of Delegates The Virginia House of Delegates is one of the two parts of the Virginia General Assembly, the other being the Senate of Virginia. It has 100 members elected for terms of two years; unlike most states, these elections take place during odd-numbe ...

in the history of the

Virginia General Assembly The Virginia General Assembly is the legislative body of the Commonwealth of Virginia, the oldest continuous law-making body in the Western Hemisphere, the first elected legislative assembly in the New World, and was established on July 30, 161 ...

Heartsill Ragon Heartsill Ragon (; March 20, 1885 – September 15, 1940) was a United States representative from Arkansas and a United States district judge of the United States District Court for the Western District of Arkansas. Education and career Born on ...

- US Congressman from Arkansas and federal judge on the United States District Court for the Western District of Arkansas *

Robert W. Ray Robert William Ray (born April 4, 1960) is an American lawyer. As the successor to Ken Starr as the head of the Office of the Independent Counsel (1999 to 2002) he investigated and issued the final reports on the Whitewater controversy, the Whit ...

1985 - Partner at

Fox Rothschild Fox Rothschild LLP is an American AmLaw100 law firm founded in Philadelphia in 1907 by Edwin Fox and Jerome J. Rothschild. History From 2005 to 2010, the firm expanded from 10 offices to 15 offices, then to 27 offices in 2018. On January 1, 2016 ...

in New York City and former head of the US

Office of the Independent Counsel The Office of Special Counsel was an office of the United States Department of Justice established by provisions in the Ethics in Government Act that expired in 1999. The provisions were replaced by Department of Justice regulation 28 CFR Part ...

(succeeded

Kenneth Starr Kenneth Winston Starr (July 21, 1946 – September 13, 2022) was an American lawyer and judge who authored the Starr Report, which led to the impeachment of Bill Clinton. He headed an investigation of members of the Clinton administration, know ...

) *

Alfred E. Reames Alfred Evan Reames (February 5, 1870March 4, 1943) was an American attorney and politician from the state of Oregon. A native Oregonian, he served as a United States Senator for nine months in 1938. A Democrat, he practiced law in Portland, Eugen ...

1893 — US Senator from

Oregon Oregon () is a U.S. state, state in the Pacific Northwest region of the Western United States. The Columbia River delineates much of Oregon's northern boundary with Washington (state), Washington, while the Snake River delineates much of it ...

Tom Sansonetti Thomas Lawrence Sansonetti (born May 18, 1949), is an attorney and a former government official from the U.S. state of Wyoming. He now resides in Greenwood Village, a suburb of Denver, Colorado. After graduation from high school, he earne ...

1976 -

United States Assistant Attorney General Many of the divisions and offices of the United States Department of Justice are headed by an assistant attorney general. The president of the United States appoints individuals to the position of assistant attorney general with the advice and ...

for the

United States Department of Justice Environment and Natural Resources Division The United States Department of Justice Environment and Natural Resources Division (ENRD) is one of seven litigating components of the U.S. Department of Justice. ENRD's mandate is to enforce civil and criminal environmental laws and programs pr ...

* Abram Penn Staples 1908 -

and justice on the Supreme Court of Virginia *

Charles L. Terry, Jr. Charles Layman Terry Jr. (September 17, 1900 – February 6, 1970) was an American lawyer and politician from Dover, Delaware, Dover, in Kent County, Delaware. He was a member of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party and serv ...

- Governor of Delaware 1961–1965 *

Peter G. Strasser Peter G. Strasser is an American attorney who served as the United States Attorney for the Eastern District of Louisiana from 2018 to 2021. Prior to becoming the U.S. Attorney, he was a partner at the New Orleans office of Chaffe McCalle. Biog ...

for the Eastern District of Louisiana * Paul S. Trible, Jr. 1971 — Former US Senator from Virginia, president of

Christopher Newport University Christopher Newport University (CNU) is a public university in Newport News, Virginia. It was founded in 1960 and is named after Christopher Newport, captain of one of the ships which carried settlers of Jamestown, the first permanent English ...

* William M. Tuck 1921 - Governor of Virginia *

Henry St. George Tucker III Henry St. George Tucker III (April 5, 1853 – July 23, 1932) was a representative from the Commonwealth of Virginia to the United States House of Representatives, professor of law, and president of the American Bar Association. Early and fami ...

1876 - US Congressman from Virginia, Dean of W&L Law, Dean of the

George Washington University Law School The George Washington University Law School (GW Law) is the law school of George Washington University, in Washington, D.C. Established in 1865, GW Law is the oldest top law school in the national capital. GW Law offers the largest range of cou ...

, and President of the American Bar Association *

David Gardiner Tyler David Gardiner Tyler (July 12, 1846 – September 5, 1927) was an American politician and the ninth child and fourth son of John Tyler, the tenth president of the United States. Born in New York, Tyler went to school in Virginia and fought in ...

1869 - United States Representative, Son of President

John Tyler John Tyler (March 29, 1790 – January 18, 1862) was the tenth president of the United States The president of the United States (POTUS) is the head of state and head of government of the United States of America. The president dire ...

, Present at Lee's surrender at Appomattox *

Junius Edgar West Junius Edgar West (July 12, 1866 – January 1, 1947) was a Virginia politician and businessman who was born in Sussex County, Virginia, on July 12, 1866, and whose long and distinguished career culminated in two terms as the 22nd Lieutenant Go ...

- 22nd Lieutenant Governor of Virginia * Seward H. Williams 1895 - US Congressman from Ohio * Harry M. Wurzbach 1896 - US Congressman from

Texas Texas (, ; Spanish language, Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2 ...

Judiciary * William T. Brotherton, Jr. - Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of West Virginia from 1989 to 1994 * Archibald C. Buchanan 1914 - Justice on the

Supreme Court of Virginia The Supreme Court of Virginia is the highest court in the Commonwealth of Virginia. It primarily hears direct appeals in civil cases from the trial-level city and county circuit courts, as well as the criminal law, family law and administrative ...

* Christian Compton 1950, 1953 - Justice of the

from 1974 to 2006 *

Mark Steven Davis Mark Steven Davis (born 1962) is the Chief United States district judge of the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia. Education and career Born in Portsmouth, Virginia, Davis attended Longwood College (now Longwood ...

1988 - United States District Court Judge for the Eastern District of Virginia * John W. Eggleston 1910 - Chief Justice of the Virginia Supreme Court from 1958 to 1969 * Herbert B. Gregory 1911 - Justice on the Virginia Supreme Court from 1930 to 1951 *

Duncan Lawrence Groner Duncan Lawrence Groner (September 6, 1873 – July 17, 1957) was an Associate Justice and later Chief Justice of the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia. Education and career Born in Norfolk, Virginia, Groner attended th ...

1894 - US Attorney, Federal District Judge for

United States District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia The United States District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia (in case citations, E.D. Va.) is one of two United States district courts serving the Commonwealth of Virginia. It has jurisdiction over the Northern Virginia, Hampton ...

, Chief Judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit * Alexander M. Harman, Jr. - Justice on the Supreme Court of Virginia from 1969 to 1979 *

Jerrauld Jones Jerrauld Corey Jones (born July 22, 1954) is an American politician and jurist. He was a Democratic member of the Virginia House of Delegates 1988-2002, representing the 89th District in Norfolk. He is currently a judge of the Norfolk Circu ...

1980 - Judge on the Norfolk Circuit Court *

Walter DeKalb Kelley Jr. Walter DeKalb Kelley Jr. (born July 28, 1955) is an American jurist who served as United States district judge of the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia from August 2004 to May 2008. Education and career A native of ...

1977, 1981 - Former federal judge in the Eastern District of Virginia and current partner at

Jones Day Jones Day is an American multinational law firm. As of 2021, it was the eighth largest law firm in the U.S. and the 13th highest grossing law firm in the world. Originally headquartered in Cleveland, Ohio, Jones Day ranks first in both M&A le ...

* Jackson L. Kiser 1952 - Judge on the United States District Court for the Western District of Virginia *

Joseph Rucker Lamar Joseph Rucker Lamar (October 14, 1857 – January 2, 1916) was an Associate Justice of the United States Supreme Court appointed by President William Howard Taft. A cousin of former associate justice Lucius Lamar, he served from 1911 until hi ...

1878 —

Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States An associate justice of the Supreme Court of the United States is any member of the Supreme Court of the United States other than the chief justice of the United States. The number of associate justices is eight, as set by the Judiciary Act of 18 ...

of the

United States Supreme Court The Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) is the highest court in the federal judiciary of the United States. It has ultimate appellate jurisdiction over all U.S. federal court cases, and over state court cases that involve a point o ...

(1911–1916), Justice of the Supreme Court of Georgia (1903-1905) * Harry Jacob Lemley 1910 - Federal Judge on both the

United States District Court for the Eastern District of Arkansas The United States District Court for the Eastern District of Arkansas (in case citations, E.D. Ark.) is a federal court in the Eighth Circuit (except for patent claims and claims against the U.S. government under the Tucker Act, which are appeal ...

and the

United States District Court for the Western District of Arkansas The United States District Court for the Western District of Arkansas (in case citations, W.D. Ark.) is a federal court in the Eighth Circuit (except for patent claims and claims against the U.S. government under the Tucker Act, which are appeale ...

* Daniel B. Lucas - Poet and justice on the Supreme Court of West Virginia from 1889 to 1892 *

John Ashton MacKenzie John Ashton MacKenzie (September 17, 1917 – January 1, 2010) was a Virginia lawyer, Coast Guard officer and politician who became United States district judge of the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia. Early li ...

1939 - Federal Judge for the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia * Charles W. Mason 1911 - Justice of the Oklahoma Supreme Court 1923 - 1931 * Robert E. Payne 1967 - Judge for the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia * Lewis Franklin Powell, Jr. 1929, 1931 — Associate Justice of the United States Supreme Court (1972–1987), President of the American Bar Association, and named partner at Hunton Williams Gay Powell & Gibson * William Ray Price, Jr. 1978 - Longest serving judge and former Chief Justice of the

Supreme Court of Missouri The Supreme Court of Missouri is the highest court in the state of Missouri. It was established in 1820 and is located at 207 West High Street in Jefferson City, Missouri. Missouri voters have approved changes in the state's constitution to give ...

Daniel K. Sadler Daniel Kennard Sadler (October 28, 1882 – April 2, 1960) was an American lawyer and justice on the New Mexico Supreme Court. Biography Sadler was born on October 28, 1882, in Paris, Arkansas. He graduated from the University of Arkansas in 190 ...

- Justice on the

New Mexico Supreme Court The New Mexico Supreme Court is the highest court in the U.S. state of New Mexico. It is established and its powers defined by Article VI of the New Mexico Constitution. It is primarily an appellate court which reviews civil and criminal decisi ...

* Roscoe B. Stephenson, Jr. 1943, 1947 - Justice on the Supreme Court of Virginia * James Clinton Turk 1952 - Federal judge and Chief Judge (1973 to 1993) on the United States District Court for the Western District of Virginia * Sol Wachtler - former

Chief Judge of the New York Court of Appeals Chief Judge of the New York Court of Appeals refers to the position of chief judge on the New York Court of Appeals. They are also known as the Chief Judge of New York. The chief judge supervises the seven-judge Court of Appeals. In addition, th ...

(1985–1993) *

Kennon C. Whittle Kennon Caithness Whittle (October 12, 1891 – November 10, 1967) was a Virginia lawyer and judge who served as president of the Virginia Bar Association and was elected to the Supreme Court of Virginia, Virginia Supreme Court of Appeals. Biograp ...

1914 - Justice on the Supreme Court of Virginia and president of the

Virginia Bar Association The Virginia Bar Association (VBA) is a voluntary organization of lawyers, judges and law school faculty and students in Virginia, with offices in Richmond, Virginia. Key elements are advocacy, professionalism, service and collegiality. It provi ...

* H. Emory Widener, Jr. 1953 - Judge for the

United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit The United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit (in case citations, 4th Cir.) is a federal court located in Richmond, Virginia, with appellate jurisdiction over the district courts in the following districts: * District of Maryla ...

Private attorneys * Robert J. Grey, Jr. 1976 - American Bar Association President 2004–2005 * Linda A. Klein 1983 - Immediate past president of the American Bar Association, former chair of the ABA House of Delegates, managing partner of the Georgia offices of

Baker, Donelson, Bearman, Caldwell & Berkowitz Baker, Donelson, Bearman, Caldwell & Berkowitz P.C. is a large U.S. law firm and lobbying group with offices in the Southeastern United States and Washington, D.C. '' Fortune'' has selected Baker Donelson as one of the 100 Best Companies to Wor ...

* Morgan Meyer 1999 - Lawyer for Bracewell & Giuliani in

Dallas Dallas () is the List of municipalities in Texas, third largest city in Texas and the largest city in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, the List of metropolitan statistical areas, fourth-largest metropolitan area in the United States at 7.5 ...

, and incoming 2015 Republican member of the

Texas House of Representatives The Texas House of Representatives is the lower house of the bicameral Texas Legislature. It consists of 150 members who are elected from single-member districts for two-year terms. As of the 2010 United States census, each member represents abou ...

Prescott Prince Prescott Prince (born November 15, 1954) is an American lawyer and officer in the United States Navy Reserve. Prince is notable for being assigned to represent Guantanamo captive Khalid Sheikh Mohammed. Education Member of Kappa ...

1983 — Attorney defending

Khalid Sheikh Mohammed Khalid Sheikh Mohammed (sometimes also spelled Shaikh; also known by at least 50 pseudonyms; born March 1, 1964 or April 14, 1965) is a Pakistani Islamist militant held by the United States at the Guantanamo Bay detention camp under terrorism-re ...

Christopher Wolf Christopher Wolf (born Washington, DC 1954) is an American attorney known for his career in Internet and privacy law. He was one of the first lawyers to practice Internet law and Privacy law. He is a retired partner in the international law ...

1980 - Partner at

Hogan Lovells Hogan Lovells is an American-British law firm co-headquartered in London and Washington, DC. The firm was formed in 2010 by the merger of the American law firm Hogan & Hartson and the British law firm Lovells. It employs about 2,400 lawyers a ...

, widely recognized as one of the leading American practitioners in the field of

privacy Privacy (, ) is the ability of an individual or group to seclude themselves or information about themselves, and thereby express themselves selectively. The domain of privacy partially overlaps with security, which can include the concepts of a ...

and data security law, and founder and co-chair of the Future of Privacy Forum

Notable faculty

- Federal Judge, founder, and former Dean of the Washington and Lee University School of Law *

Martin P. Burks Martin Parks Burks (January 23, 1851 – April 30, 1928) (some sources give the date of his birth as 1850) was born in Bedford County, Virginia. His father was Judge Edward C. Burks, who served on the Supreme Court of Appeals from 1876 to 1882. ...

- Former Dean and justice on the

Virginia Supreme Court The Supreme Court of Virginia is the highest court in the Commonwealth of Virginia. It primarily hears direct appeals in civil cases from the trial-level city and county circuit courts, as well as the criminal law, family law and administrativ ...

David Bruck David Isaac Bruck (born 1949) is a Canadian-American criminal defense attorney, clinical professor of law at Washington and Lee University School of Law, and director of the Virginia Capital Case Clearinghouse. Bruck was raised in Montreal, Queb ...

- Noted capital defense attorney, Supreme Court advocate, and Director of the Virginia Capital Clearinghouse at W&L Law *

Judy Clarke Judy Clare Clarke (born 1952) is an American criminal defense attorney who has represented several high-profile defendants such as Ted Kaczynski, Eric Rudolph, Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, Joseph Edward Duncan, Zacarias Moussaoui, Jared Lee Loughner, Rob ...

- Noted criminal defense attorney for

Ted Kaczynski Theodore John Kaczynski ( ; born May 22, 1942), also known as the Unabomber (), is an American domestic terrorist and former mathematics professor. Between 1978 and 1995, Kaczynski killed three people and injured 23 others in a nationwide ...

Zacarias Moussaoui Zacarias Moussaoui (Arabic: زكريا موسوي, '; born May 30, 1968) is a French member of al-Qaeda who pleaded guilty in U.S. federal court to conspiring to kill citizens of the United States as part of the September 11 attacks. He is serv ...

, Susan Smith,

Eric Rudolph Eric Robert Rudolph (born September 19, 1966), also known as the Olympic Park Bomber, is an American domestic terrorist convicted for a series of bombings across the southern United States between 1996 and 1998, which killed two people and injur ...

Jared Lee Loughner Jared Lee Loughner (; born September 10, 1988) is an American mass murderer who pled guilty to 19 charges of murder and attempted murder in connection with the January 8, 2011, Tucson shooting, in which he shot and severely injured U.S. Repre ...

, and

Dzhokhar Tsarnaev Dzhokhar "Jahar" Anzorovich Tsarnaev born July 22, 1993)russian: Джоха́р Анзо́рович Царна́ев, link=no ; ce, Царнаев Анзор-кIант ДжовхӀар o; ( Kyrgyz language, Kyrgyz: Жохар Анзор уу� ...

1895, 1892 - 1924 Democratic nominee for U.S. President;

United States Solicitor General The solicitor general of the United States is the fourth-highest-ranking official in the United States Department of Justice. Elizabeth Prelogar has been serving in the role since October 28, 2021. The United States solicitor general represent ...

; and

President *

Creigh Deeds Robert Creigh Deeds (; born January 4, 1958) is an American lawyer and politician serving as a member of the Senate of Virginia representing the 25th district since 2001. Previously, he was the Democratic nominee for Attorney General of Virgi ...

- Democratic nominee for

Governor of Virginia The governor of the Commonwealth of Virginia serves as the head of government of Virginia for a four-year term. The incumbent, Glenn Youngkin, was sworn in on January 15, 2022. Oath of office On inauguration day, the Governor-elect takes th ...

in 2009 and Virginia State Senator *

- Former Dean of W&L Law and

Hofstra University School of Law The Maurice A. Deane School of Law at Hofstra University (commonly known as Hofstra Law) is a law school located in Hempstead, New York on Long Island, affiliated with Hofstra University. Founded in 1970 and accredited by the ABA in 1971, th ...

John DiPippa
1978 — former Dean of the

University of Arkansas at Little Rock School of Law The UA Little Rock William H. Bowen School of Law is a public law school, part of the University of Arkansas at Little Rock (UA Little Rock). The school is both American Bar Association (ABA) accredited and a member of the Association of American ...

1872 - Professor at W&L Law and at the University of Virginia School of Law * Roger Groot - Professor of Criminal Law and noted death penalty expert * Homer A. Holt 1918, 1923 -

from 1937 to 1941 *

1950, 1957 - Former Dean of W&L Law, former President of Washington and Lee University, former President, Chairman, and CEO of

* Allan Ides - Professor and

Constitutional Law Constitutional law is a body of law which defines the role, powers, and structure of different entities within a State (polity), state, namely, the executive (government), executive, the parliament or legislature, and the judiciary; as well as th ...

and

Civil Procedure Civil procedure is the body of law that sets out the rules and standards that courts follow when adjudicating civil lawsuits (as opposed to procedures in criminal law matters). These rules govern how a lawsuit or case may be commenced; what ki ...

expert * Timothy Jost - Professor and expert in health law *

Donald W. Lemons Donald Wayne Lemons (born February 22, 1949) is a former associate justice of the Supreme Court of Virginia. He served as chief justice from 2015 to 2021. He received both his undergraduate and law degrees from the University of Virginia. Biog ...

- Chief Justice of the

* Jeffrey P. Minear - Counselor to Chief Justice John G. Roberts, Jr. *

Blake Morant Blake D. Morant is an American legal educator and professor of law at George Washington University Law School, where he was the Dean in 2014-2019. History Morant received a bachelors (BA) degree in 1975 and juris doctor (JD) degree in 1978 fro ...

- Dean of the

George Washington Law School The George Washington University Law School (GW Law) is the law school of George Washington University, in Washington, D.C. Established in 1865, GW Law is the oldest top law school in the national capital. GW Law offers the largest range of co ...

and former Dean of the

Wake Forest University School of Law The Wake Forest University School of Law is one of the professional graduate schools of Wake Forest University. Located in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, Wake Forest University School of Law is a private American Bar Association (ABA) accredite ...

David F. Partlett
- Former Dean of W&L Law and of

Emory University School of Law Emory University School of Law is the law school of Emory University and is part of the University's main campus in Druid Hills, Atlanta, Georgia. It was founded in 1916 and was the first law school in Georgia to be granted membership in the Am ...

* Leander J. Shaw, Jr. - Chief Justice of the

Florida Supreme Court The Supreme Court of Florida is the highest court in the U.S. state of Florida. It consists of seven members: the chief justice and six justices. Six members are chosen from six districts around the state to foster geographic diversity, and one ...

Rodney A. Smolla Rodney A. Smolla, is an American author, First Amendment scholar and lawyer. He is currently the president of the Vermont Law School, and former dean of the Widener University Delaware Law School until spring 2022. He was the 11th president of Fu ...

- Dean of

Widener University Widener University is a private university in Chester, Pennsylvania. The university has three other campuses: two in Pennsylvania (Harrisburg and Exton) and one in Wilmington, Delaware. Founded as The Bullock School for Boys in 1821, the school ...

-Delaware Law, Former Dean of W&L Law and

, First Amendment scholar, and former president of

Furman University Furman University is a private liberal arts university in Greenville, South Carolina. Founded in 1826 and named for the clergyman Richard Furman, Furman University is the oldest private institution of higher learning in South Carolina. It became ...

* Abram Penn Staples 1908 -

and justice on the Virginia Supreme Court *

Waller Redd Staples Waller Redd Staples (February 24, 1826 – August 21, 1897) was a Virginia lawyer, slave-owner and politician who was briefly a member of the Virginia General Assembly The Virginia General Assembly is the legislative body of the Commonw ...

- Member of the Confederate House of Representatives and justice on the Virginia Supreme Court *

Barry Sullivan Barry Sullivan may refer to: *Barry Sullivan (American actor) (1912–1994), US film and Broadway actor *Barry Sullivan (stage actor) (1821–1891), Irish born stage actor active in Britain and Australia *Barry Sullivan (lawyer), Chicago lawyer and ...

- Former Dean and currently professor at

Loyola University Chicago School of Law Loyola University Chicago School of Law is the law school of Loyola University Chicago, in Illinois. Established in 1909, by the Society of Jesus, the Roman Catholic order of the Jesuits, the School of Law is located in downtown Chicago. Loy ...

1876 - Former Dean of W&L Law, Dean of the

, Congressman from Virginia, and former president of the

* John Randolph Tucker - Virginia Attorney General, former Dean, and former President of the American Bar Association
William R. Vance
1869 - Professor at

Yale Law School Yale Law School (Yale Law or YLS) is the law school of Yale University, a Private university, private research university in New Haven, Connecticut. It was established in 1824 and has been ranked as the best law school in the United States by ''U ...

, and Dean of W&L Law,

, and the

University of Minnesota Law School The University of Minnesota Law School is the law school of the University of Minnesota, located in Minneapolis, Minnesota. The school confers four law degrees: a Juris Doctor (J.D.), a Master of Laws (LL.M.), a Master of Science in Patent L ...

* H. Emory Widener, Jr. 1953 - Judge for the

References

External links

Washington and Lee University School of LawWilbur C. Hall Law Library
{{DEFAULTSORT:Washington And Lee University School Of Law Law schools in Virginia Washington and Lee University Washington and Lee University School of Law Educational institutions established in 1849 1849 establishments in Virginia