William H. Pryor Jr. serves as Chief Circuit Judge on the United States Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit.
In 2013–18, he served on the United States Sentencing Commission and, in 2017–18, served as Acting Chair.
He has taught as a visiting professor at the University of Alabama School of Law and previously taught as an adjunct professor at the Cumberland School of Law of Samford University.
He served as the 45th Attorney General of Alabama from 1997 to 2004. When he took office, he was the youngest attorney general in the nation. In his reelection, he received the highest percentage of votes of any statewide candidate.
He graduated magna cum laude from Tulane Law School where he finished first in the common-law curriculum and was editor in chief of the Tulane Law Review. He then served as a law clerk for Judge John Minor Wisdom of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit.
He is a member of The American Law Institute and an Adviser for the RESTATEMENT OF THE LAW THIRD, CONFLICT OF LAWS. He is a coauthor with Bryan Garner, Justices Gorsuch and Kavanaugh, and several other judges of a treatise, THE LAW OF JUDICIAL PRECEDENT. He has published in the Yale Law Journal, Columbia Law Review, Virginia Law Review, Notre Dame Law Review, Harvard Journal of Law & Public Policy, Yale Law & Policy Review, George Mason Law Review, Florida Law Review, Alabama Law Review, Case Western Reserve Law Review, and Tulane Law Review. He has published op-eds in The Wall Street Journal, The New York Times, National Review, and USA Today. He has debated at National Lawyers’ Conventions of the Federalist Society (including on National Public Radio) and at the Oxford Union in the United Kingdom. And he is listed among several “widely admired judicial writers” in Bryan Garner’s The Redbook: A Manual on Legal Style.
He is a member of the Tulane Law School Hall of Fame and has received the Defender of the Constitution Award from the Heritage Foundation, the Jurist of the Year Award from the Texas Review of Law & Politics, and the St. Thomas More Award from the St. Thomas More Society of Atlanta. Judge Pryor is also a proud member of the National Society of the Sons of the American Revolution.
*****
A person listed as a contributor has spoken or otherwise participated in Federalist Society events, publications, or multimedia presentations. A person's appearance on this list does not imply any other endorsement or relationship between the person and the Federalist Society. In most cases, the biographical information on a person's "contributor" page is provided directly by the person, and the Federalist Society does not edit or otherwise endorse that information. The Federalist Society takes no position on particular legal or public policy issues. All expressions of opinion by a contributor are those of the contributor.
The State of the Federal Judiciary: A Conversation with Chief Judge Pryor and Professor Amar
Yale Student Chapter
Yale Law School127 Wall St
New Haven, CT 06511
A Conversation with Judge Pryor
Chicago Student Chapter
The University of Chicago Law School1111 E. 60th Street
Chicago, IL 60637
In-House Counsel Network: The Litigation Environment - Public Nuisance, Market-Share, and Consumer Protection Liability
2024 National Lawyers Convention
The Washington Hilton1919 Connecticut Ave NW
Washington, DC 20009
SOC! SIDEBAR: College Football
The Federalist Society's Student Division & Yale Law School Chapter
Daniel Webster Debate Series: Should Americans Embrace Common-Good Constitutionalism?
The Federalist Society's Georgetown Law Chapter'sDaniel Webster Debate Series presents Daniel Webster Debate Series:Should...
In-House Counsel Network: The Litigation Environment - Public Nuisance, Market-Share, and Consumer Protection Liability
2024 National Lawyers Convention
Theories of nuisance, market-share, and consumer protection liability have become increasingly popular among plaintiffs who...
In-House Counsel Network: The Litigation Environment - Public Nuisance, Market-Share, and Consumer Protection Liability
2024 National Lawyers Convention
Theories of nuisance, market-share, and consumer protection liability have become increasingly popular among plaintiffs who...
SOC! SIDEBAR: College Football
The Federalist Society's Student Division & Yale Law School Chapter
The Federalist Society's Student Division & Yale Law School Chapterpresent SOC! SIDEBAR:College Football featuring Hon....
Showcase Panel II: Whither Precedent?
2023 National Lawyers Convention
No one maintains that the Court has always and forever been originalist in its orientation....