S. Bernard Goodwyn

Who is S. Bernard Goodwyn?

Samuel Bernard Goodwyn is a Virginia jurist currently serving his first 12-year term as a Justice on the Supreme Court of Virginia. Justice Goodwyn was appointed on October 10, 2007 by Governor Timothy M. Kaine to fill the vacancy created by the retirement of Justice Elizabeth B. Lacy early in 2007. Such pro tempore appointments are only valid until 30 days after the Virginia General Assembly next meets. In the 2008 session of the Virginia General Assembly, a political standoff between the Democratic-controlled Senate and the Republican-controlled House of Delegates resulted in Goodwyn's nomination being put on hold until February 8, 2008, the day the pro tempore appointment would have expired. On that day, however, the General Assembly unanimously appointed Justice Goodwyn to a 12-year term.

Justice Goodwyn was, until his appointment, a trial court judge in the First Judicial Circuit Court in Chesapeake, Virginia where he has served since 1997. Prior to being named to the circuit court, he served two years as a general district court judge. A Southampton County native, Justice Goodwyn received his undergraduate degree in economics from Harvard University and his J.D. from the University of Virginia’s School of Law in 1986, where he was an editor for the Virginia Tax Review and received the Ritter Award for honor, character and integrity. Justice Goodwyn also served on the faculty of the school during the 1994-95 school year as a Research Associate Professor of Law. Before he was appointed to the bench, Justice Goodwyn practiced law at the law firm of Willcox & Savage for eight years.