U.S. Court of Appeals Judge James A. Wynn, Jr. will deliver Elon University School of Law's 2012 Commencement address on May 20.
One hundred and ten Elon Law students will receive the Juris Doctor degree at the ceremonies, which will begin at 3 p.m. Under the Oaks at Elon University in Elon, N.C.
Wynn has served on the United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit since August 10, 2010, following his appointment by President Barack Obama on November 4, 2009 and his confirmation by the United States Senate on August 5, 2010. He served for nearly twenty years as an appellate judge on the Supreme Court of North Carolina and the North Carolina Court of Appeals.
Wynn’s legal career began in the Judge Advocate General’s Corps of the Navy at Naval Base Norfolk, Virginia. After four years of active service, he remained in the active reserves where he completed three tours of duty as a Commanding Officer and as the Staff Judge Advocate for Readiness Command Six in Washington, D.C. A certified military judge, he served as the Commanding Officer of the Navy Reserve Trial Judiciary and presided over military trials in North America, Europe and Asia. He retired after a total of 30 years service at the rank of Navy Captain.
In 1983, he joined the eastern North Carolina law firm that became in 1984 – Fitch, Butterfield & Wynn. His practice concentrated in trial and appellate litigation, real estate, and administrative law. In 1990, he was elected to serve on the North Carolina Court of Appeals where he remained (except for a period in 1998 when he served on the Supreme Court of North Carolina) until he was nominated by President Obama and confirmed by the U.S. Senate on a unanimous voice vote to serve on the United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit.
Wynn is a long-time member of the American Bar Association where he currently serves on the American Bar Endowment Board and the Standing Committee on Federal Judicial Improvements. He previously served in four Chair positions for ABA entities: The Judicial Division, the Appellate Judges Conference, the Working Group on Judicial Campaign Speech, and the ABA 2009 National Diversity Summit. He served in the ABA House of Delegates, the 2007 Revised ABA Model Code of Judicial Conduct Committee, the World Justice Commission, and the Standing Committee on Judicial Independence.
For more than sixteen years, Wynn has been a Commissioner on the National Conference on Uniform State Laws where he has served as Vice President and a member of the Executive Committee, Scope and Program Committee, and several drafting committees.
Wynn holds the following degrees:
- University of Virginia School of Law, Master of Laws, Judicial Process, 1995
- Marquette University Law School, Juris Doctor, 1979
- UNC-Chapel Hill, Bachelor of Arts, Journalism, 1975
He has received the All Alumni Merit Award at Marquette University; the Hallows Scholar Award from Marquette University School of Law; the Harvey Beech Merit Award from the UNC-Chapel Hill Alumni Association, the Raymond Pace Alexander Award from the National Bar Association, and several other awards and honors.
Judge Wynn is a Deacon at Berean Baptist Church in Raleigh, NC and he is a Life Member of Kappa Alpha Psi Fraternity, Inc. He is married to Jacqueline Rollins Wynn and has three sons.
In 2009, David Gergen, adviser to four U.S. presidents, director of the Center for Public Leadership at the John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University, and chair of the Elon University Law School Advisory Board, delivered the Commencement address before the charter class of Elon Law.
In 2010, United States Senator Kay Hagan delivered the law school’s Commencement address.
In 2011, United States Senator Richard Burr delivered the law school’s Commencement address.
Click here for more information about Elon University School of Law’s 2012 Commencement exercises.