Judge Will Address Graduates on Wednesday at ESCC

On March 6, 2023, Jamar K. Walker was sworn in as a United States District Judge in the Norfolk Division of the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia.

Judge Walker was raised in Melfa, Virginia, and is a 2004 graduate of Nandua High School. At Nandua, Judge Walker was President of his class for all four years, President of the BETA Club, state runner-up and Captain of the Nandua High School Forensic team, and a member of the baseball team. He was also a recipient of the Eastern Shore News leadership scholarship given annually on the Shore.

Judge Walker received his bachelor’s degree from the University of Virginia and his law degree from the University of Virginia School of Law. Following graduation, he began his legal career by serving as a law clerk to the Honorable Raymond A. Jackson, UnitedStates District Judge for the Eastern District of Virginia.

Upon completion of his clerkship, Judge Walker became a litigation associate in the Washington, D.C. office of Covington & Burling LLP, where his practice focused primarily on products liability and insurance litigation. In 2015, Judge Walker joined the United States Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Virginia and was assigned to the Alexandria Division’s Financial Crimes and Public Corruption Unit. He subsequently served as the unit’s Deputy Chief and Acting Chief. While at the U.S. Attorney’s Office, Judge Walker sat on the officewide Diversity Committee; cofounded the Committee on Race, Policing, and Prosecution; worked as the Alexandria Division’s Hate Crimes Coordinator.

During his time as a prosecutor, Judge Walker received five FBI Service Awards for work in public corruption, wire fraud, and bank fraud cases. In 2020, he was among the National LGBT+ Bar Association’s 40 Under 40 and the National Association of Black Lawyers’ 40 Under 40.

Judge Walker is the 2023 recipient of the University of Virginia School of Law Lambda Law Alliance’s Alvarez-Coughlin Award, which recognizes extraordinary efforts on behalf of the LGBTQ community. He was also named to the Native Son 101 List for 2023, highlightingBlack gay and queer men for historic cultural contributions. Judge Walker is the first openly LGBTQ+ federal judge in Virginia and the second openly gay Black male Article III judge in the United States.

Commencement at Eastern Shore Community College is by invitation only, but will be broadcast on 103.3FM WESR, streamed at Shore Daily News, and a Facebook Live can be viewed on the ESCC Facebook Page beginning at 5:00pm on Wednesday, May 8th.