4th Circuit Court
US Appeals Judge William Wilkins Won’t ‘Coast’ in New Law Firm Job
Posted Oct 6, 2008, 10:55 am CST
By Debra Cassens Weiss
William Wilkins.
Photo courtesy Nexsen Pruet
The former chief judge of the Richmond, Va.-based 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals will join the Carolinas-based law firm Nexsen Pruet.
Judge William Wilkins will lead the firm's white-collar crime, appellate advocacy, and corporate compliance/crisis management practice groups, according to a press release. He was President Reagan’s first choice for the federal bench when he was appointed to the U.S. District Court in South Carolina in 1981, and was the first chair of the U.S. Sentencing Commission. He was appointed to the 4th Circuit in 1986.
Wilkins leaves the federal bench after taking senior status last year. Although he knows of only one other senior judge who moved to a private law firm, he plans to take an active role in his new job, he told the Greenville News. “I didn't take this just to coast along," he said.