Full Name
Hon. Victoria Willis
Job Title
Chief Judge
Company
Virginia 15th Judicial Circuit
Speaker Bio
Victoria A.B. Willis - Bio
Hon. Victoria A. B. Willis was appointed a Circuit Court Judge in December of 2014. This court is the highest-level trial court which also serves as an appellate court for two lower courts – General District and Juvenile and Domestic Relations Courts. For her first ten years, she served as presiding judge in Stafford Circuit Court. Effective July 1, 2024, she was elevated to Chief Judge of the 15th Judicial Circuit which is comprised of 11 separate judicial circuit courts spanning the largest geographic region in the Commonwealth of Virginia. She currently presides in Caroline and Hanover Counties. She has been appointed to the Executive Committee of the Supreme Court of Virginia. She joined the National Association of Women Judges in 2014 and has served on the governing Board as Vice President of Publications, Secretary, Treasurer, and member of the Strategic Planning Committee. She is also a member of the Virginia Association of Women Judges serving as its Treasurer for the last five years.
She was appointed by the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court to be a member of the Virginia Sentencing Commission and is regularly appointed to serve on lawyer disciplinary panels, and election challenges serving both as a panel member and as Chief Judge. She was a member of the Virginia Supreme Court Committee charged with analyzing the ability to safely resume jury trials and authored the resumption plan for Stafford which was one of the first plans selected to resume juries becoming a model for other jurisdictions.
Prior to taking the bench, she was Partner and Director at the law firm of DurretteCrump, P.L.C. from April of 2009 to December of 2014, Principal from 2002-2009, and Managing Attorney from 2001-2002, where her areas of practice were business, corporate transactional, compliance with federal, state, and local regulations and statutes, corporate governance, employment law, healthcare, litigation, state and federal regulatory compliance. Before joining this firm, she worked extensively in the healthcare field as General Counsel and Vice President of MediCorp Health System (1994-2001), Vice-President - Legal Affairs, MWH MediCorp (1992-1994), and as Risk Manager, Mary Washington Hospital (1991-1992). She was a frequent lecturer for medical associations and societies around the country. Judge Willis received her B.A. (Magna Cum Laude) from Vanderbilt University in 1983 and her J.D. from the University of Richmond School of Law in 1986. She received a Certificate in Leadership and Management in May of 2000 from the James Monroe Center for Graduate and Professional Studies of the University of Mary Washington.
She is married to Gordon F. Willis, also a Circuit Court Judge and together they raised four children who are all grown and on their own. They have been blessed with their first grandchild, currently have 1 dog and a passel of fur grandbabies!
Hon. Victoria A. B. Willis was appointed a Circuit Court Judge in December of 2014. This court is the highest-level trial court which also serves as an appellate court for two lower courts – General District and Juvenile and Domestic Relations Courts. For her first ten years, she served as presiding judge in Stafford Circuit Court. Effective July 1, 2024, she was elevated to Chief Judge of the 15th Judicial Circuit which is comprised of 11 separate judicial circuit courts spanning the largest geographic region in the Commonwealth of Virginia. She currently presides in Caroline and Hanover Counties. She has been appointed to the Executive Committee of the Supreme Court of Virginia. She joined the National Association of Women Judges in 2014 and has served on the governing Board as Vice President of Publications, Secretary, Treasurer, and member of the Strategic Planning Committee. She is also a member of the Virginia Association of Women Judges serving as its Treasurer for the last five years.
She was appointed by the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court to be a member of the Virginia Sentencing Commission and is regularly appointed to serve on lawyer disciplinary panels, and election challenges serving both as a panel member and as Chief Judge. She was a member of the Virginia Supreme Court Committee charged with analyzing the ability to safely resume jury trials and authored the resumption plan for Stafford which was one of the first plans selected to resume juries becoming a model for other jurisdictions.
Prior to taking the bench, she was Partner and Director at the law firm of DurretteCrump, P.L.C. from April of 2009 to December of 2014, Principal from 2002-2009, and Managing Attorney from 2001-2002, where her areas of practice were business, corporate transactional, compliance with federal, state, and local regulations and statutes, corporate governance, employment law, healthcare, litigation, state and federal regulatory compliance. Before joining this firm, she worked extensively in the healthcare field as General Counsel and Vice President of MediCorp Health System (1994-2001), Vice-President - Legal Affairs, MWH MediCorp (1992-1994), and as Risk Manager, Mary Washington Hospital (1991-1992). She was a frequent lecturer for medical associations and societies around the country. Judge Willis received her B.A. (Magna Cum Laude) from Vanderbilt University in 1983 and her J.D. from the University of Richmond School of Law in 1986. She received a Certificate in Leadership and Management in May of 2000 from the James Monroe Center for Graduate and Professional Studies of the University of Mary Washington.
She is married to Gordon F. Willis, also a Circuit Court Judge and together they raised four children who are all grown and on their own. They have been blessed with their first grandchild, currently have 1 dog and a passel of fur grandbabies!
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