Judge Roger L. Gregory, the former law partner of L. Douglas Wilder, will take over as chief judge of the Richmond-based 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals on Saturday. He graduated from Virginia State University in 1975 and from the University of Michigan Law School in 1978.
Gregory, 62, joined the court in 2000. He was the first African-American to serve on what was then widely viewed as the most conservative of the nation’s 12 federal circuit courts. He also will be the first African-American to serve as the court’s chief judge.
Based in Richmond, the 4th Circuit has 15 active and two senior judges and handles appeals from Virginia, Maryland, West Virginia, North Carolina and South Carolina.
The federal circuit courts of appeal generally have low public profiles but play powerful roles in the judicial system.
