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TextCircuit Court Judges
Dennis J. Smith
Chief JudgeJudicial Circuit: 19th
College: Brooklyn College
Law School: Washington College of Law
Date Sworn In: June 1, 1995
Judge Smith served as a member and chairperson of various committees of the Fairfax Bar Association, including the Family Law Section, the Circuit Court Committee and the Judicial Screening Committee. He was on the Board of Governors of the Family Law Section of the Virginia State Bar as an attorney and a judge. He was appointed a Commissioner in Chancery in 1988 and also served as a substitute judge for the District Courts from 1990 until his appointment to the Circuit Court bench. Since then he has been appointed to various Supreme Court task forces and he chaired the Supreme Court's Committee on the Establishment of Family Court in Virginia. He also served on and chaired the Judicial Education Committee of the Judicial Conference of Virginia. He was elected Chief Judge by his colleagues effective July 1, 2007.
Jane Marum Roush
Judicial Circuit: 19th
College: Wellesley College
Law School: University of Virginia School of Law
Date Sworn In: July 1, 1993
Jonathan C. Thacher
Judicial Circuit: 19th
College: University of Miami
Law School: George Mason University
Date Sworn In: May 28, 1998
Judge Thacher graduated from the University of Miami, (FL) in 1970 and George Mason University School of Law (with Distinction) in 1980. He served in the United States Army from 1970 - 1975 attaining the rank of Captain. He was awarded the Joint Services Commendation Medal, the Vietnam Campaign Medal, the Vietnam Service Medal, and the National Defense Medal. He is a former Special Agent, Army Criminal Investigation Division and a former Civilian Special Agent with Naval Investigative Service. He served as Minority Counsel to Senator Robert Dole in the U.S. Senate Judiciary Sub-committee investigating individuals with interests in Libya (Billygate). Prior to taking the bench he was a partner in the firm of Thacher, Swiger and Cay. He served as a Substitute Judge in the District Court from 1988 to 1994. He was appointed to the General District Court in 1994 and the Circuit Court in 1998. He currently serves as a Distinguished Adjunct Professor of Law at the George Mason University School of Law.
R. Terrence Ney
Judicial Circuit: 19th
College: Harvard College
Law School: University of Texas
Date Sworn In: January 12, 1999
Member, American Law Institute; Fellow, American College of Trial Lawyers; Fellow, American Academy of Appellate Lawyers; President, The Virginia Bar Association, 1995; Distinguished Adjunct Professor of Law, George Mason University Law School, 2001-present; Fellow, Virginia Law Foundation; Editor and Chapter Author Appellate Practice - Virginia and Federal Courts (Virginia Law Foundation 1986, 1992 2nd Ed, 2001 3rd Ed); Member House of Delegates, American Bar Association, 1998-2004; Faculty Member, Virginia State Bar Course on Professionalism, 1994-1997; Member, Board of Governors of Virginia State Bar Law and Legal Education Section, 1998-2004; Member Executive Council, National Conference of Bar Presidents, 1995-1998; Member, Joint Committee on Continuing Legal Education, Virginia Law Foundation, 1979-1983; Member, Virginia Commission on Women and Minorities in the Legal Profession, 1994-1996; Chair, Judicial Section, The Virginia Bar Association, 2001-2003; Member, Judges Advisory Committee, Standing Committee on Ethics and Professional Responsibility, American Bar Association, 2005-2007; Member, Boyd-Graves Conference, 1995-present; Member, Commission on Racial and Ethnic Diversity in the Profession, American Bar Association, 2007-present; Virginia Association of Defense Attorneys – Award for Excellence in Civil Litigation, 2005.
Randy I. Bellows
Judicial Circuit: 19th
College: University of Florida
Law School: Harvard Law School
Date Sworn In: October 15, 2002
Charles J. Maxfield
Judicial Circuit: 19th
College: United States Military Academy
Law School: William & Mary
Date Sworn In: February 1, 2007
Judge Maxfield was appointed as a substitute judge for the District Courts in 1992. In 1994, he was appointed as a Juvenile and Domestic Relations District Court Judge. On February 1, 2007, he joined the Circuit Court Bench.
Bruce D. White
Judicial Circuit: 19th
College: George Washington University
Law School: Memphis State University
Date Sworn In: January 18, 2008
Judge White served as a substitute Judge for the General District and Juvenile and Domestic Relations Courts from 1995 until his appointment to the Circuit Court bench. He served a three year term on the State Bar's Professionalism Faculty. Judge White is an Adjunct Professor of Law at the George Mason School of Law where he teaches trial advocacy. Judge White has participated in the Court's Model Judiciary Program for over ten years.
Robert J. Smith
Judicial Circuit: 19th
College: B.A., University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign 1974
Law School: The John Marshall Law School, Chicago, Illinois 1978
Date Sworn In: February 1, 2008
Judge Smith served as the Senior Assistant Public Defender in Fairfax County from July 1, 1987 until November 18, 1990. Prior to that Judge Smith served on active duty with the United States Army Judge Advocate General’s Corps. Judge Smith was a Judge of the Fairfax County General District Court from November 19, 1987 until February 1, 2008. On February 2, 2008, Judge Smith was sworn in as a Judge of the Fairfax County Circuit Court. On September 1, 2009, Judge Smith retired as a Colonel from the United States Army Reserve after thirty years of service. At his retirement he was the Chief Trial Judge of the United States Army Reserve. Judge Smith is an Adjunct Professor of Law at George Washington University Law School.
David S. Schell
Judicial Circuit Court: 19th
College: University of Southern Mississippi
Law School: Washington College of Law American University
Date Sworn In: September 4, 2008
Judge Schell was engaged in the private practice of law in northern Virginia from 1979 to 1991 during which time he served as a Commissioner in Chancery. From 1991 to 2008 he served as a Judge in the Fairfax Juvenile and Domestic Relations District Court. He was Chief Judge of that court from 1998 to 2002. From 2000 to 2008 Judge Schell presented the annual appellate law review lecture for all the Juvenile Court Judges in the state and the Fairfax Family Law Committee. Previous judicial committees include: Chairman, Advisory Committee to the Supreme Court, Foster Care and Adoption; Education; Liaison to the Department of Juvenile Justice; Previous Fairfax Bar Association Committees: Legislative, Chairman, Public Relations Committee and 10th District Grievance Committee.
Jan L. Brodie
Judicial Circuit Court: 19th
College: College of William and Mary – BA
San Jose State University – MA
Law School: George Mason University
Date Sworn In: September 12, 2008
Judge Brodie was President of the Fairfax Bar Association, a member of the Bar Council and Executive Committee of the Virginia State Bar, and a member of the Fairfax Law Foundation Board. She is a faculty member and lecturer for the Harry S. Carrico Professionalism Course and a faculty member of the National Institute of Trial Advocacy at Georgetown University. She was appointed to the Mandatory Continuing Legal Education Board and has participated in the Court’s Model Judiciary Program. Prior to her appointment to the Circuit Court Bench, she was a Deputy County Attorney for Fairfax County.
Lorraine Nordlund
Judicial Circuit Court: 19th
College: Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University
Law School: Marshall-Wythe, College of William & Mary
Date Sworn In: February 1, 2010
Judge Nordlund began her legal career as a law clerk to the Fairfax Circuit Court, before serving as an Assistant Commonwealth’s Attorney from 1982 to 1986. In private practice for ten years, she was elected to the General District Court in 1996.
Active in bar association activities throughout her career, she’s a past Chair of the Criminal Sub-Committee to the Circuit Court and the General District Court Committee. An avid participant in Moot Court activities and the George Mason Inns of Court, she is also a member of several Judicial Associations, serving for nearly ten years on the Board of Directors of the Virginia Association of District Court Judges.
Judge Nordlund has lectured for local civics groups, school activities, Bar Associations, and the Northern Virginia and Fairfax County Criminal Justice Academies. She has taught at several Mandatory Judicial Conferences for District Court Judges, as well as the Educational Conferences for both Newly-Elected and Substitute Judges for the Commonwealth.
Brett A. Kassabian
Judicial Circuit Court: 19th
College: Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University
Law School: Wake Forest University School of Law
Date Sworn In: February 1, 2010
Michael F. Devine
Judicial Circuit Court: 19th
College: State University of New York at Stony Brook
Law School: University of Virginia School of Law
Date Sworn In: April 1, 2010
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