--- title: "Patricia Tolliver Giles | KnowJudges" canonical: "https://knowjudges.com/kyj/judge/patricia-tolliver-giles" page_type: "judge_profile" updated: "2026-08-03" --- # Patricia Tolliver Giles U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia · Judge ## Profile - Court: U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia - State: Virginia - Role: Judge - Service status: active - Last verified: 2026-07-25 ## Summary Official statewide and applicable court procedural guidance applies to this judge. ## Biography ### Professional career - U.S. District Judge for the Eastern District of Virginia, appointed by President Joe Biden in 2021 and confirmed by the Senate 68–27 - From 2003 to 2021, Giles was an Assistant U.S. Attorney in the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Virginia - She then worked in private practice at Cooley Godward LLP in Reston, Virginia (2000–2003) - After law school, Giles held the role of a law clerk to Hon. Gerald Bruce Lee first in the Virginia Circuit Court (1998) and then in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia (1998–2000). - Law clerk, Hon. Gerald Bruce Lee, Virginia Circuit Court, Nineteenth Judicial Circuit, 1998 - U.S. District Judge for the Eastern District of Virginia, one of 94 federal trial courts in the United States ### Education - University of Virginia School of Law — J.D. (1998) - University of Virginia — B.A. (1995) ### Additional information - President Biden nominated her on July 13, 2021; the Senate Judiciary Committee held hearings on July 27, 2021. - In April 2021, Senators Mark Warner and Tim Kaine recommended Giles to fill the seat vacated by Judge Liam O’Grady. - She received her judicial commission on November 1, 2021. - Her nomination was reported out of committee on September 23, 2021, cloture invoked on October 26, 2021, and confirmed by a 68–27 vote. - Major Crimes Unit, 2003-2019; managing assistant U.S. attorney, Alexandria Division, 2019-2021 - Assistant professorial lecturer, Forensic Sciences Department, George Washington University, 2006-2008 - Patricia Denise Tolliver Giles was born in 1973 in West Point, New York, and raised in Hampton, Virginia. - Date of birth: 1973 - handling commercial cases in contracts, intellectual property, securities, and employment law. - Official court site:. - She also contributed to the Attorney General’s Transnational Organized Crime Task Force MS‐13 Subcommittee. - She continues to preside over federal cases in the district, including criminal, civil, and other matters under the jurisdiction of the court. - Birth place: West Point ## Before you appear - Read the judge-specific standing order first when one is listed. - Check the docket and case orders for requirements that supersede broader guidance. - Confirm current remote-access and courtroom technology arrangements before the proceeding. ## Courtroom Rules ### civil remote testimony Scope: courtwide In federal district-court civil proceedings, testimony is ordinarily taken in open court; remote contemporaneous testimony requires good cause in compelling circumstances and appropriate safeguards. Evidence excerpt: For good cause in compelling circumstances and with appropriate safeguards, the court may permit testimony in open court by contemporaneous transmission from a different location. [Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 43(a), Testimony in Open Court](https://www.uscourts.gov/forms-rules/current-rules-practice-procedure/federal-rules-civil-procedure) Source checked: 2026-07-26 ### criminal recording and broadcasting Scope: courtwide Federal district courts may not permit courtroom photography or broadcasting during criminal judicial proceedings unless a statute or another federal rule provides an exception. Evidence excerpt: Except as otherwise provided by a statute or these rules, the court must not permit the taking of photographs in the courtroom during judicial proceedings or the broadcasting of judicial proceedings from the courtroom. [Federal Rule of Criminal Procedure 53, Courtroom Photographing and Broadcasting Prohibited](https://www.uscourts.gov/court-records/access-court-proceedings/remote-public-access-proceedings/history-cameras-broadcasting-and-remote-public-access-courts) Source checked: 2026-07-26 ## Sources - [Official profile](https://www.fjc.gov/node/10929801) - [Official roster](https://www.fjc.gov/node/10929801) - [Federal Judicial Center biography](https://www.fjc.gov/node/10929801) - [Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 43(a), Testimony in Open Court](https://www.uscourts.gov/forms-rules/current-rules-practice-procedure/federal-rules-civil-procedure) - [Federal Rule of Criminal Procedure 53, Courtroom Photographing and Broadcasting Prohibited](https://www.uscourts.gov/court-records/access-court-proceedings/remote-public-access-proceedings/history-cameras-broadcasting-and-remote-public-access-courts) - [Giles, Patricia Tolliver](https://www.fjc.gov/node/10929801) - [Wikidata: Patricia Tolliver Giles](https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q107379569) ## JSON-LD ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "WebPage", "@id": "https://knowjudges.com/kyj/judge/patricia-tolliver-giles", "url": "https://knowjudges.com/kyj/judge/patricia-tolliver-giles", "name": "Patricia Tolliver Giles | KnowJudges", "description": "Patricia Tolliver Giles, U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia. 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Section-specific exceptions, waivers, later amendments and case orders remain applicable. This is a source excerpt, not an exhaustive statement of the rule. [Official source](https://www.uscourts.gov/sites/default/files/document/federal-rules-of-civil-procedure.pdf). Collected 2026-10-27. - [Federal Rules of Criminal Procedure, December 1, 2025](https://knowjudges.com/courtroom-rules/national-shared-set-8721a344fececced2257fe1d) — Criminal proceedings in United States District Courts; this conservative mapping does not distribute appellate-specific provisions to appellate judges. Section-specific exceptions, waivers, later amendments and case orders remain applicable. This is a source excerpt, not an exhaustive statement of the rule. [Official source](https://www.uscourts.gov/sites/default/files/document/federal-rules-of-criminal-procedure.pdf). Collected 2026-10-27.