---
title: "Robert Bruce King | KnowJudges"
canonical: "https://knowjudges.com/kyj/judge/robert-bruce-king"
page_type: "judge_profile"
updated: "2026-10-07"
---

# Robert Bruce King

U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit · U.S. Circuit Judge

## Profile

- Court: U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit
- State: National federal courts
- Role: U.S. Circuit Judge
- Service status: active
- Last verified: 2026-07-25

## Summary

Official statewide and applicable court procedural guidance applies to this judge.

## Biography

### Professional career

- Judge, Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit, 1998-present
- U.S. attorney for the Southern District of West Virginia, 1977-1981
- He later became United States Attorney for the Southern District of West Virginia (1977–1981)
- Assistant U.S. attorney, Southern District of West Virginia, 1970-1974
- Law clerk, Hon. John A. Field, U.S. District Court, Southern District of West Virginia, 1968-1969
- Began his legal career clerking for Judge John A. Field, Jr. in the Southern District of West Virginia, then practiced privately in Lewisburg and Charleston

### Education

- Bachelor of Arts from West Virginia University in 1961 and held the role of an officer in the United States Air Force Office of Special Investigations until 1964.

### Additional information

- In 2025, he was on a panel ordering the return of Kilmar Abrego Garcia, who had been erroneously deported to El Salvador, highlighting his commitment to due process.
- For example, in 2019, he was part of a panel that remanded a case challenging the addition of a citizenship question to the 2020 Census, emphasizing equal protection concerns.
- Nominated to the United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit by President Bill Clinton on June 24, 1998, to fill the seat vacated by Kenneth K. Hall.
- Private practice, Charleston, WV, 1981-1998
- Private practice, Charleston, WV, 1975-1977
- Assistant United States Attorney, prosecuting high-profile cases, including corruption charges against former West Virginia Governor William Wallace Barron (1970–1974)
- Private practice, Lewisburg, WV, 1969-1970
- After military service, he worked as a teacher before enrolling at West Virginia University College of Law, where he graduated Order of the Coif in 1968, served as president of the Student Bar Association, and contributed to the West Virginia Law Review.
- He married Julia Kay Doak, a fellow teacher, in April 1965, and they have shared a lifelong partnership rooted in education and public service.
- Robert Bruce King was born on January 29, 1940, in White Sulphur Springs, West Virginia.
- Date of birth: 1940-01-01
- received his commission the following day.
- The American Bar Association rated him as “Substantial Majority Well Qualified” for the position.
- As a judge, King has participated in numerous significant rulings.
- handling political corruption, coal mine fraud, and drug cases.
- His father passed away when King was ten, leaving his mother, Gladys, to raise him and his siblings while working at The Greenbrier resort, instilling in them the values of hard work and education.
- King and his sister later established a scholarship at West Virginia University in honor of their mother’s dedication to education.
- Birth place: White Sulphur Springs, WV

## 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

### appellate oral argument

Scope: courtwide

In federal courts of appeals, oral argument is allowed unless a three-judge panel unanimously finds one of Rule 34's specified grounds for dispensing with it; the clerk provides the date, time, place, and time allocation.

Evidence excerpt: Oral argument must be allowed in every case unless a panel of three judges who have examined the briefs and record unanimously agrees that oral argument is unnecessary

[Federal Rule of Appellate Procedure 34, Oral Argument](https://www.uscourts.gov/forms-rules/current-rules-practice-procedure/federal-rules-appellate-procedure)
Source checked: 2026-07-26


## Sources

- [Official profile](https://www.fjc.gov/node/1390786)
- [Official roster](https://www.fjc.gov/node/1390786)
- [Federal Judicial Center biography](https://www.fjc.gov/node/1390786)
- [CourtListener judicial biographical directory](https://www.courtlistener.com/person/1780/robert-bruce-king/)
- [Federal Rule of Appellate Procedure 34, Oral Argument](https://www.uscourts.gov/forms-rules/current-rules-practice-procedure/federal-rules-appellate-procedure)
- [CourtListener judicial biographical directory](https://www.courtlistener.com/person/1780/robert-bruce-king/)

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