Holding Fourth by Hunton Andrews Kurth LLP

Join us as the Honorable Andre M. Davis, a retired judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit and the United States District Court for the District of Maryland, shares insights from his extensive legal career. Judge Davis discusses his early influences as a law clerk in the courts where he eventually served, his professional journey through the state and federal benches, and what motivates him today.

In this episode, Lewis F. Powell III shares stories about growing up with his father, the late Supreme Court Justice Lewis F. Powell Jr., and discusses the intersection of his father's legacy and his own legal career.  Lewis also delves into his experience clerking for Judge Robert R. Merhige, Jr., and shares his thoughts around mentorship, specialization within the profession, and how young lawyers can gain trial experience.

In this episode Trevor Cox discusses his career path, which began as an interest in trusts and estates law, and developed to the Virginia AG's office, where he served as Deputy Solicitor General & Counsel to the Executive Division, Senior Appellate Counsel, and Acting Solicitor General. As chief appellate counsel for the Commonwealth of Virginia Trevor Cox discusses his experience arguing appeals in various courts, including the Fourth Circuit. Trevor shares insights about the challenges and excitement of working in the Solicitor General's office, and his thoughts on the Fourth Circuit. Trevor also discuss the challenges of arguing cases in court, including the importance of answering questions directly and the differences between arguing before a three judge panel and an en banc court.

Professor Tobias holds the prestigious Williams Chair in Law at the University of Richmond School of Law. He has written over 120 law review articles and is the author or co-author of more than 80 essays, commentaries, and other shorter works in law reviews. Beyond his academic work he is a frequent commentator in the media and has written for the Washington Post, Los Angeles Times, Christian Science Monitor, Slate, Politico, and of course, our own hometown, Richmond Times Dispatch. Please join us as we speak to Professor Carl Tobias to talk about his area of expertise: the federal judicial selection process and how that process has shaped the Fourth Circuit into what it is today.

In 2022, Professors Allison Orr Larsen and Neal Devins from William & Mary Law School published an article in the Virginia Law Review titled "Circuit Personalities." In the article, they examined and described how the appeals courts develop and adhere to different norms and traditions, and explain the broader implications of those different personalities in our judicial system. In this episode we speak with Professor Allison Orr Larsen, who is not only a professor of Law at William & Mary Law School, but also serves as the director of the Institute of Bill of Rights Law. 

Each year, lawyers from the office of the solicitor general, or the SG for short, appear before the Supreme Court to argue on behalf of the federal government, but who argues on behalf of the states? It turns out that most states have their own solicitors general, but unlike their counterparts in Washington, D.C., state SGs frequently appear at all levels of the judiciary, both state and federal. Who are these SGs? What do they do? And do we really have to address them as general?  To help us answer these questions we are joined by the former Solicitor General of West Virginia, Elbert Lin.