Elizabeth Kay Dillon (née Hillman; born December 14, 1960) is the chief United States district judge of the

United States District Court for the Western District of Virginia The United States District Court for the Western District of Virginia (in case citations, W.D. Va.) is a United States district court. Appeals from the Western District of Virginia are taken to the United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth ...

Biography

Dillon received an Artium Baccalaureus degree, magna cum laude, in 1983 from

Lenoir–Rhyne University Lenoir–Rhyne University is a private Lutheran university in Hickory, North Carolina. It was founded in 1891 and is affiliated with the North Carolina Synod of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA). Academics The university is acc ...

. She received a

Juris Doctor A Juris Doctor, Doctor of Jurisprudence, or Doctor of Law (JD) is a graduate-entry professional degree that primarily prepares individuals to practice law. In the United States and the Philippines, it is the only qualifying law degree. Other j ...

in 1986 from

Wake Forest University School of Law Wake Forest University School of Law is the law school of Wake Forest University, a private research university in Winston-Salem, North Carolina. Established in 1894, Wake Forest University School of Law is an American Bar Association (ABA) accred ...

. She began her legal career at Woods, Rogers & Hazlegrove, PLC, from 1986 to 1998. From 1999 to 2000, she was a shareholder at Guynn & Dillon, PC, a predecessor to her later law firm. From 2000 to 2003, she worked as an assistant city attorney for the City of

Roanoke Roanoke may refer to: Places *Roanoke Colony, a former English colony that mysteriously disappeared *Roanoke Island, the location of the Roanoke colony in present-day North Carolina *Roanoke River, flowing through Virginia and North Carolina and ...

. From 2003 to 2014, she had been a shareholder at Guynn, Memmer & Dillon, PC, where she handled both trial and appellate matters in federal and state courts.

Federal judicial service

On September 18, 2014, President

Barack Obama Barack Hussein Obama II (born August 4, 1961) is an American politician who was the 44th president of the United States from 2009 to 2017. A member of the Democratic Party, he was the first African American president in American history. O ...

nominated Dillon to serve as a United States district judge of the United States District Court for the Western District of Virginia, to the seat vacated by Judge Samuel Grayson Wilson, who retired on July 31, 2014. She received a hearing before the

United States Senate Committee on the Judiciary The United States Senate Committee on the Judiciary, informally known as the Senate Judiciary Committee, is a Standing committee (United States Congress), standing committee of 22 U.S. senators whose role is to oversee the United States Departm ...

on November 13, 2014. On December 11, 2014, her nomination was reported out of committee by

voice vote In parliamentary procedure, a voice vote (from the Latin ''viva voce'', meaning "by live voice") or acclamation is a voting method in deliberative assemblies (such as legislatures) in which a group vote is taken on a topic or motion by respondin ...

. On December 13, 2014

Senate Majority Leader The positions of majority leader and minority leader are held by two United States senators and people of the party leadership of the United States Senate. They serve as chief spokespersons for their respective political parties, holding the ...

Harry Reid Harry Mason Reid Jr. (; December 2, 1939 – December 28, 2021) was an American lawyer and politician who served as a United States Senate, United States senator from Nevada from 1987 to 2017. He led the Senate Democratic Caucus from 2005 to 2 ...

filed a motion to invoke

cloture Cloture (, ), closure or, informally, a guillotine, is a motion or process in parliamentary procedure aimed at bringing debate to a quick end. The cloture procedure originated in the French National Assembly, from which the name is taken. is ...

on the nomination. On December 16, 2014, Reid withdrew his cloture motion on Dillon's nomination, and the Senate proceeded to vote to confirm Dillon by

. She received her federal judicial commission on December 19, 2014. She became the chief judge on July 4, 2024, after Michael F. Urbanski assumed senior status.

Mountain Valley Pipeline

Dillon has been criticized for several decisions surrounding the

Mountain Valley Pipeline The Mountain Valley Pipeline (MVP) is a natural gas pipeline constructed from northwestern West Virginia to southern Virginia. The MVP is long, and there is also a proposed Southgate Extension which will run from Virginia into North Carolina. T ...

in Southwest Virginia. On May 4, 2018, Dillon found 61 year old Theresa 'Red' Terry in

contempt of court Contempt of court, often referred to simply as "contempt", is the crime of being disobedient to or disrespectful toward a court of law and its officers in the form of behavior that opposes or defies the authority, justice, and dignity of the co ...

for protesting the pipeline while on her own land, threatening a $1,000/day fine and use of

U.S. Marshal The United States Marshals Service (USMS) is a federal law enforcement agency in the United States. The Marshals Service serves as the enforcement and security arm of the U.S. federal judiciary. It is an agency of the U.S. Department of Jus ...

s to forcibly remove her. The land has been in Terry's family for 7 generations On May 16, 2018, Dillon found two farmers in contempt of court for encouraging a tree sit on their property.

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Dillon, Elizabeth K. 1960 births Living people 20th-century American lawyers 20th-century American women lawyers 21st-century American women judges 21st-century American lawyers 21st-century American women lawyers Judges of the United States District Court for the Western District of Virginia Lenoir–Rhyne University alumni Lawyers from Omaha, Nebraska Lawyers from Roanoke, Virginia United States district court judges appointed by Barack Obama Wake Forest University School of Law alumni