William Blakely Jones

Who was William Blakely Jones?

William Blakely Jones was a United States federal judge.

Born in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, Jones received an A.B. from the University of Notre Dame in 1928 and an LL.B. from Notre Dame Law School in 1931. He was in private practice in Helena, Montana from 1931 to 1937, also serving as a special assistant state attorney general of Montana from 1935 to 1937. He was an attorney in the U.S. Department of Justice from 1937 to 1943, and in the U.S. Office of Patents and Appeals in 1943, becoming an executive assistant to the American chairman of the Joint British-American Patent Interchange Commission from 1943 to 1946. He returned to private practice in Washington, D.C., from 1946 to 1962.

On March 19, 1962, Jones was nominated by President John F. Kennedy to a seat on the United States District Court for the District of Columbia vacated by F. Dickinson Letts. Jones was confirmed by the United States Senate on April 11, 1962, and received his commission on April 12, 1962. He served as chief judge from 1975 to 1977, assuming senior status on March 20, 1977, and serving in that capacity until his death.