Justice Robert H. Jackson Lecture with Hon. J. Michelle Childs

Hon. J. Michelle Childs
U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit

Judge Childs has been a member of Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit since 2022. She previously served a judge of the U.S. District Court for the District of South Carolina beginning 2010 and was a finalist for the seat on the Supreme Court of the United States that ultimately went to Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson.

After a career in private legal practice that saw her become a partner in the law firm Nexsen Pruet (now Maynard Nexsen) in Columbia, South Carolina, she began her public service as deputy director for the South Carolina Department of Labor, Licensing and Regulation’s Division of Labor in 2000. In 2006, the South Carolina General Assembly elected her a state circuit court judge. During her time on the state bench, she served as chief administrative judge for General Sessions, which is South Carolina’s criminal court, and as chief administrative judge for the state’s business court.

She has been active in many local, state, and national bar and community organizations, including the Federal Judges Association (current president) and as a member of the American Bar Association’s Committee on the American Judicial System. She is former chair of the ABA’s Judicial Division.

Her academic degrees include a law degree and a master’s in personnel and employment relations from the University of South Carolina and a Master of Judicial Studies from the Duke University School of Law.

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