Hon. William H. Pryor Jr.

William Holcomb Pryor, Jr. (b. 1962) is a federal judge on the United States Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit. He joined the court in 2005 after being nominated by President George W. Bush.

A native of Mobile, Pryor graduated magna cum laude in 1987 from Tulane University School of Law, where he was editor in chief of the Tulane Law Review.

He began his legal career as a law clerk for the late Judge John Minor Wisdom of the U.S. Court of Appeals, Fifth Circuit. Afterwards, Pryor engaged in the private practice of law in Birmingham in two of the state's finest law firms, specializing in commercial and employment litigation from 1988 until 1995. Pryor also taught as an adjunct professor at the Cumberland School of Law of Samford University from 1989 to 1995.

In 1997, Pryor was appointed Attorney General of Alabama by Governor Fob James to complete the term of Jeff Sessions who was elected to the United States Senate. At the time, Pryor was the youngest Attorney General in the United States. On November 3, 1998, Pryor was elected to a full four-year term. On November 5, 2002, he was reelected, with 59 percent of the votes (the highest percentage of all statewide candidates), to a final term as Attorney General.

Pryor was nominated to the United States Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit by President George W. Bush on February 14, 2005, to a seat vacated by Emmett Cox. Pryor was confirmed by the U.S. Senate on June 9, 2005 on a Senate vote and received commission on June 10, 2005.

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