Virginia Anne Seitz (born August 1, 1956) is an American attorney who specializes in

constitutional law Constitutional law is a body of law which defines the role, powers, and structure of different entities within a state, namely, the executive, the parliament or legislature, and the judiciary; as well as the basic rights of citizens and, in ...

, labor law, employment law and administrative law. She served as the United States Assistant Attorney General for the

Office of Legal Counsel The Office of Legal Counsel (OLC) is an office in the United States Department of Justice that supports the attorney general in their role as legal adviser to the president and all executive branch agencies. It drafts legal opinions of the atto ...

in the

United States Department of Justice The United States Department of Justice (DOJ), also known as the Justice Department, is a United States federal executive departments, federal executive department of the U.S. government that oversees the domestic enforcement of Law of the Unite ...

from 2011 until stepping down in December 2013. Seitz was confirmed to the post by the Senate in a

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 June 28, 2011.

Early life and education

Seitz's father,

Collins J. Seitz Collins Jacques Seitz (June 20, 1914 – October 16, 1998) was a United States federal judge, United States circuit judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit. Education and career Born on June 20, 1914, in Wilmington, Del ...

, was a chancellor of Delaware who wrote the 1952 decision in '' Gebhart v. Belton'', which paved the way for ''

Brown v. Board of Education ''Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka'', 347 U.S. 483 (1954), was a landmark decision of the United States Supreme Court that ruled that U.S. state laws establishing racial segregation in public schools are unconstitutional, even if the ...

''. Seitz earned a bachelor's degree in 1978 from

Duke University Duke University is a Private university, private research university in Durham, North Carolina, United States. Founded by Methodists and Quakers in the present-day city of Trinity, North Carolina, Trinity in 1838, the school moved to Durham in 1 ...

, and was a

Rhodes Scholar The Rhodes Scholarship is an international Postgraduate education, postgraduate award for students to study at the University of Oxford in Oxford, United Kingdom. The scholarship is open to people from all backgrounds around the world. Esta ...

. She earned an BA in 1980 from

Brasenose College, Oxford Brasenose College (BNC) is one of the Colleges of the University of Oxford, constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in the United Kingdom. It began as Brasenose Hall in the 13th century, before being founded as a college in 1509. The l ...

( promoted to an MA per tradition). She earned a J.D. degree in 1985 from the

University at Buffalo Law School The University at Buffalo School of Law (also known as State University of New York at Buffalo Law School, or SUNY Buffalo Law School) is the law school of the University at Buffalo. Founded in 1887, and affiliated with Niagara University until 1 ...

. After law school, Seitz clerked from 1985 until 1986 for Judge

Harry T. Edwards Harry Thomas Edwards (born November 3, 1940) is an American lawyer and jurist serving as a senior United States circuit judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit. He is also a professor of law at the New Yor ...

of the

United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit The United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit (in case citations, D.C. Cir.) is one of the thirteen United States Courts of Appeals. It has the smallest geographical jurisdiction of any of the U.S. courts of appeals, ...

, and from 1986 until 1987 for Justice William J. Brennan of the

Supreme Court of the United States The Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) is the highest court in the federal judiciary of the United States. It has ultimate appellate jurisdiction over all Federal tribunals in the United States, U.S. federal court cases, and over Stat ...

Professional career

In 1998, Seitz joined

Sidley Austin Sidley Austin LLP is an American multinational corporation, multinational law firm with approximately 2,300 lawyers in 21 offices worldwide. It was established in 1866 and its headquarters is at One South Dearborn in Chicago's Chicago Loop, Loo ...

as a partner in the firm's Washington office. In November 2011, Seitz was included on ''The New Republic's'' list of Washington's most powerful, least famous people.

Possible nomination to the U.S. Supreme Court

In November 2008, Legal Times reported that Seitz's name was being discussed as a possible nominee to the

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 ...

Assistant Attorney General for the Office of Legal Counsel

On August 4, 2010,

National Public Radio National Public Radio (NPR) is an American public broadcasting organization headquartered in Washington, D.C., with its NPR West headquarters in Culver City, California. It serves as a national Radio syndication, syndicator to a network of more ...

reported that Seitz was the leading candidate to serve as the Assistant Attorney General for the

in the United States Department of Justice. President Obama had not appointed a Senate-confirmed nominee to head the OLC, and his previous nominee for the job, Dawn Johnsen, withdrew her candidacy after it languished for more than a year in the face of opposition from Senate Republicans. On January 5, 2011, Obama nominated Seitz to be Assistant Attorney General for OLC. The full United States Senate confirmed Seitz in a

on June 28, 2011. During Seitz's tenure, she wrote an opinion that stated that the U.S. Senate's periodic pro forma sessions did not interrupt a Senate recess and thus did not prevent the president from making recess appointments. The U.S. Supreme Court rejected this position in

National Labor Relations Board v. Noel Canning ''National Labor Relations Board v. Noel Canning'', 573 U.S. 513 (2014), was a Supreme Court of the United States, United States Supreme Court case in which the Court unanimously ruled that the President of the United States cannot use their auth ...

on June 26, 2014 with the majority opinion by Justice

Stephen Breyer Stephen Gerald Breyer ( ; born August 15, 1938) is an American lawyer and retired jurist who served as an associate justice of the U.S. Supreme Court from 1994 until his retirement in 2022. He was nominated by President Bill Clinton, and r ...

stating "the Senate is in session when it says it is.""Senate 9, President 0." The Wall Street Journal. Dow Jones & Company, June 26, 2014. Web. June 28, 2014. However, the decision allowed the use of recess appointments during breaks within a session for vacancies that existed prior to the break, which also had been a matter of contention. The prior

opinion in the same case had held that recess appointments were limited to only those vacancies that "happen" to occur during the inter-session break, not to vacancies that existed prior to the recess. Seitz resigned as Assistant Attorney General, effective December 20, 2013.

Personal

Seitz's husband, Roy W. McLeese III, is a judge on the

District of Columbia Court of Appeals The District of Columbia Court of Appeals is the highest court of the District of Columbia, the capital city of the United States. The court was established in 1942 as the Municipal Court of Appeals, and it has been the court of last resort ...

. McCleese served as Assistant to the Solicitor General from 1997 to 1999. He rejoined the Office of the Solicitor General as Acting Deputy Solicitor General to cover the position that longtime deputy

Michael Dreeben Michael R. Dreeben (born 1954) is a former Deputy Solicitor General who was in charge of the U.S. Department of Justice criminal docket before the United States Supreme Court. He is recognized as an expert in U.S. criminal law. Dreeben recently ...

vacated while on leave to teach. Seitz's brother is Collins J. Seitz Jr., the Chief Justice of the

Delaware Supreme Court The Delaware Supreme Court is the sole appellate court in the United States state of Delaware. Because Delaware is a popular haven for corporations, the Court has developed a worldwide reputation as a respected source of corporate law decisions, ...

References

External links

Sidley Austin Profile
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Seitz, Virginia A. 1956 births American Rhodes Scholars Duke University alumni Law clerks of the Supreme Court of the United States Lawyers from Washington, D.C. Living people Tower Hill School alumni United States assistant attorneys general for the Office of Legal Counsel University at Buffalo Law School alumni Obama administration personnel