My Bio

I was born in Charleston, West Virginia, in 1973 and raised in the suburbs thereof - in a little white house, no less. I made it through the local public school system without getting shot, overdosing on over the counter cold medication, and with only one teacher arrested for a felony. In 1992, I began a seven-year term at West Virginia University, in sunny Morgantown. I received a B.A. in history, with minors in political science and philosophy, in 1996.

In 1999, I graduated from the WVU College of Law. I intentionally stayed away from so-called "bar classes" (classes you only take to help you on the bar exam but you forget just after) and focused on stuff I was interested in - Constitutional law, criminal procedure, legal philosophy, etc. After graduation, and a brief period of unemployment, I passed the WV bar exam in September 1999.

My first job out of law school was with what was then the Appalachian Research and Defense Fund (now Legal Services of West Virginia) in Beckley, WV. APPALRED provided legal services to poor people who couldn't afford "real" lawyers. I was a "domestic violence" attorney, which basically meant I helped abused women (and at least one man) get legal protection from abusive partners. It was soul-crushing work. Not just because it involved a lot of divorce work, but because your work could be undercut by your clients behavior. So in October 2000, I made the only possible lateral move on the legal food chain from legal aid lawyer - public defender (where your clients had already displayed their bad behavior!).

For two years, I plied my trade in front of the West Virginia Supreme Court of Appeals - with little success. In November 2002, I jumped out of the state system and into federal court. As such I practice primarily in the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals and the United States Supreme Court. In nearly five years with the FPD office, I've argued several cases before the Fourth Circuit, a few successfully, and have filed numerous petitions for cert with the Supreme Court. I am the office guru on the cutting edge of federal sentencing law and the editor of the latest version of a book on Fourth Circuit sentencing practice distributed throughout the Circuit. I also maintain the Fourth Circuit Blog.

I say all that not to brag but that so, hopefully, when I spout off on legal stuff you might think - "hey, he knows what he's talking about." Or maybe I don't. Draw your own conclusions.

In my spare time away from lawyering, I am also team principal / championship driver for Legal Eagle Racing, keyboardist/sound shaper of an eponymous musical concern, former owner / general manager of the indoor soccer powerhouse Morgantown Mountaineers FC, reluctant goalkeeper for the Elk River Rapids of the Southern WV Adult Soccer League, frustrated writer of fiction, and proprietor of this here blog.

Thanks for reading.