William McLaughlin Taylor Jr. (February 7, 1909 – June 17, 1985) was a

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 Northern District of Texas The United States District Court for the Northern District of Texas (in case citations, N.D. Tex.) is a United States district court. Its first judge, Andrew Phelps McCormick, was appointed to the court on April 10, 1879. The court convenes in D ...

Education and career

Born in Denton,

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 ...

, Taylor's father, William M. Taylor, was an attorney who would go on to serve on the

Supreme Court of Texas The Supreme Court of Texas (SCOTX) is the court of last resort for civil matters (including juvenile delinquency cases, which are categorized as civil under the Texas Family Code) in the U.S. state of Texas. A different court, the Texas Court of ...

. Taylor 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

Southern Methodist University School of Law Southern Methodist University, SMU Dedman School of Law, commonly referred to as SMU Law School or Dedman School of Law is a law school located in Dallas, Texas. It was founded in February 1925. SMU Law School is located on the campus of its pare ...

in 1932. He was in private practice from 1932 to 1933, and was then an assistant district attorney of the Civil Department of the State of Texas from 1933 to 1936, and an assistant city attorney from 1936 to 1939. He returned to private practice 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 ...

, Texas from 1939 to 1946. He was a Reserve Captain in the

United States Marine Corps The United States Marine Corps (USMC), also referred to as the United States Marines, is the maritime land force service branch of the United States Armed Forces responsible for conducting expeditionary and amphibious operations through combi ...

during

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 ...

, from 1944 to 1945, again returning to private practice in Dallas from 1946 to 1949. He was a judge of the 134th District Court of

Dallas County Dallas County may refer to: Places in the USA: * Dallas County, Alabama, founded in 1818, the first county in the United States by that name * Dallas County, Arkansas * Dallas County, Iowa * Dallas County, Missouri * Dallas County, Texas, the nin ...

, Texas from 1949 to 1953. He was again in private practice in Dallas from 1953 to 1966.

Federal judicial service

On June 28, 1966, Taylor was nominated by President

Lyndon B. Johnson Lyndon Baines Johnson (; August 27, 1908January 22, 1973), often referred to by his initials LBJ, was an American politician who served as the 36th president of the United States from 1963 to 1969. He had previously served as the 37th vice ...

to a seat on the

vacated by Judge

Thomas Whitfield Davidson Thomas Whitfield Davidson (September 23, 1876 – January 26, 1974) was a United States district judge of the United States District Court for the Northern District of Texas. Education and career Born in Harrison County, Texas, Davidson read ...

. Taylor 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 July 22, 1966, and received his commission the same day. He served as Chief Judge from 1973 to 1977, assuming

senior status Senior status is a form of semi-retirement for United States federal judges. To qualify, a judge in the Federal judiciary of the United States, federal court system must be at least 65 years old, and the sum of the judge's age and years of servi ...

on February 7, 1979, and serving in that capacity until his death on June 17, 1985.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Taylor, William McLaughlin Jr. 1909 births 1985 deaths Judges of the United States District Court for the Northern District of Texas United States district court judges appointed by Lyndon B. Johnson 20th-century American judges United States Marine Corps officers