--- title: "Rebecca Beach Smith | KnowJudges" canonical: "https://knowjudges.com/kyj/judge/rebecca-b-smith" page_type: "judge_profile" updated: "2026-08-02" --- # Rebecca Beach Smith 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: senior - Last verified: 2026-07-25 ## Summary Official statewide and applicable court procedural guidance applies to this judge. ## Biography ### Professional career - Judge, District Court, E.D. Virginia, 1989-present - Law clerk in private practice, Norfolk, VA, 1978-present - Senior Judge of the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia, having assumed senior status on August 1, 2019 - Chief Judge of the Eastern District of Virginia (2011–2018) - U.S. District Judge, Eastern District of Virginia, appointed by President George H.W. Bush on August 4, 1989, confirmed by the Senate on October 24, 1989 - Law clerk, Hon. J. Calvitt Clarke, Jr., U.S. District Court, Eastern District of Virginia, 1979-1980 - Law clerk in private practice in Norfolk, VA (1978) and to Hon. J. Calvitt Clarke Jr. of the Eastern District of Virginia (1979–1980) - Current Role: Senior Judge, U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia ### Education - University of Virginia-Main Campus — M.A. (1973) ### Additional information - Served on the U.S. Judicial Conference Codes of Conduct Committee (2011). - Recipient of the College of William & Mary Alumni Medallion (1997). - U.S. Magistrate, U.S. District Court, Eastern District of Virginia, 1985-1989 - Private practice, Norfolk, VA, 1980-1985 - Private practice attorney in Norfolk (1980–1985), becoming the first woman at Willcox and Savage. - B.A. in 1971 from the College of William & Mary, an M.A. in 1973 from the University of Virginia, and a J.D. in 1979 from William & Mary Law School, where she graduated first in her class and was inducted into the Order of the Coif. - Research associate, National Academy of Science, Institute of Medicine, Washington, D.C., 1974-1977 - Planning analyst, Enviro-Med, Inc., Washington, D.C., and La Jolla, CA, 1973-0074 - Born 1949 in Hopewell, Virginia. - Date of birth: 1949-01-01 - She also held the role of executive editor of the William & Mary Law Review. - Founding member of the Anson-Hoffman American Inn of Court and past president of the Norfolk Academy Board of Trustees. - Official Court Page:. - Birth place: Hopewell, VA ## 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 ### presentation procedure Scope: courtwide Courtwide presentation-related guidance applies to this judge. Evidence excerpt: Evidence Presentation System . EVIDENCE PRESENTATION SYSTEMS . The Court’s evidence presentation system allows attorneys to : . [Evidence Presentation System | Eastern District of Virginia | United States District Court](https://www.vaed.uscourts.gov/evidence-presentation-system) Source checked: 2026-07-24 ### 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/1388001) - [Official roster](https://www.fjc.gov/node/1388001) - [Federal Judicial Center biography](https://www.fjc.gov/node/1388001) - [CourtListener judicial biographical directory](https://www.courtlistener.com/person/3020/rebecca-beach-smith/) - [Evidence Presentation System | Eastern District of Virginia | United States District Court](https://www.vaed.uscourts.gov/evidence-presentation-system) - [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) - [CourtListener judicial biographical directory](https://www.courtlistener.com/person/3020/rebecca-beach-smith/) - [Wikidata: Rebecca Beach Smith](https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q7301662) ## JSON-LD ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "WebPage", "@id": "https://knowjudges.com/kyj/judge/rebecca-b-smith", "url": "https://knowjudges.com/kyj/judge/rebecca-b-smith", "name": "Rebecca Beach Smith | KnowJudges", "description": "Rebecca Beach Smith, 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.