MILLETTE TO RETIRE IN JULY

[Posted April 28, 2015] The Supreme Court of Virginia has announcedthat Justice Lee Millette will retire on July 31 after seven years on the court. The announcement states that Justice Millette simply wants to spend time with his family – his wife, Beth, and his children, Lauren and Rory.

Justice Millette came all the way through the judicial ranks, starting as a general district court judge in Prince William County, then moving up to circuit court. He then spent a short time on the Court of Appeals – short enough that some of his good-natured colleagues on the CAV referred to his tenure as “a drive-by” – before being elevated to the SCV by Governor Kaine in 2008.

In many ways, Justice Millette personifies today’s Supreme Court. He’s soft-spoken, gracious, and unfailingly polite. He has a keen eye for details in the record, and an ability to focus immediately on the dispositive issue in any appeal – what I sometimes refer to as the fulcrum of the case. He’s announced that he’ll serve the court as a senior justice, so appellate counsel will still see him at Ninth and Franklin from time to time.