Joseph R. Pope

Joseph R. Pope is an associate in the firm’s litigation practice and is a member of the Appellate, Antitrust, Bankruptcy and Creditors’ Rights, Class Action, and Complex Litigation practice teams. Prior to joining the firm, Mr. Pope served as a law clerk to the Honorable Gerald B. Tjoflat, U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit, the Honorable Harvey E. Schlesinger, U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Florida, and the Honorable Stephen S. Mitchell, U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Eastern District of Virginia.

Joseph R. Pope is an associate in the firm’s litigation practice and is a member of the Appellate, Antitrust, Bankruptcy and Creditors’ Rights, Class Action, and Complex Litigation practice teams. Prior to joining the firm, Mr. Pope served as a law clerk to the Honorable Gerald B. Tjoflat, U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit, the Honorable Harvey E. Schlesinger, U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Florida, and the Honorable Stephen S. Mitchell, U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Eastern District of Virginia.

Mr. Pope received his juris doctorate from the University of Richmond School of Law, summa cum laude, and served as articles editor for the University of Richmond Law Review. He was a member of the Walter F. McNeill Law Honor Society and earned CALI Book Awards in Contracts, Civil Procedure II, Federal Courts, Virginia Procedure, Criminal Procedure, and Corporations. He received a bachelor of music degree in music performance from Queens University, summa cum laude.

While clerking, Mr. Pope served as an adjunct professor at the Florida Coastal School of Law, where he taught Legal Research and Writing. He has authored articles on numerous legal topics, including antitrust, arbitration and alternative dispute resolution, healthcare law, civil procedure, federal jurisdiction, and constitutional law. These works include the well-cited articles Opening the Flood Gates: Rasul v. Bush and the Federal Court's New World-Wide Habeas Jurisdiction, 26 N. ILL. L. Rev. 331 (2006) and The Lasting Viability of Rasul in the Wake of the Detainee Treatment Act of 2005, 27 N. ILL. L. Rev. 21 (2006).

Mr. Pope is the founder and a principal author of Special Concurrence—a blog that analyzes recent appellate court decisions. The blog has a national scope, but focuses principally on decisions of the Fourth Circuit, Supreme Court of Virginia, and North Carolina appellate courts.

Mr. Pope co-chairs the Publications Committee of the Virginia Bar Association’s Appellate Section. He also litigates pro bono domestic violence cases as part of the Central Virginia Legal Society’s Protective Order Project. He is a member of the American Bar Association’s Appellate, Class Action, and First Amendment and Media Law sections.

Mr. Pope is admitted to practice in the Commonwealth of Virginia and before the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit, the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia, and the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Eastern District of Virginia.