Following is a list of notable alumni from the Vanderbilt University Law School.

Academia

Robert L. King (J.D. 1971), 7th chancellor of the State University of New Yorkhttps://www.suny.edu/about/leadership/past-chancellors/ K.C. Potter (J.D. 1964), academic administrator and LGBT rights activist Bill Purcell (J.D. 1979), former director of the Institute of Politics at Harvard University's John F. Kennedy School of Government Maritza Sáenz Ryan (J.D. 1988), head of the Department of Law at the United States Military Academy and United States Army colonel Samuel Cole Williams (LL.B 1884), first dean of the Emory University School of Lawhttps://law.emory.edu/about/history-mission.html

Attorneys

Attorneys general

Bruce Bennett (J.D. 1949), 38th Arkansas attorney general Steve Freudenthal (J.D. 1975), 28th Wyoming attorney general Edwin Hunt, assistant attorney general and U.S. checkers champion (1934) Eugene Brooks McLemore (J.D.), 20th Tennessee attorney general William Bradford Reynolds (LL.B 1967), assistant attorney general in charge of the US Department of Justice's Civil Rights Division

Government

Lawrence Barcella (J.D. 1970), criminal defense lawyer, assistant U.S. attorney for the District of Columbia, lead counsel for the House October Surprise Task Force Donald Q. Cochran (J.D. 1992), United States attorney for the United States District Court for the Middle District of Tennessee Zachary T. Fardon (J.D. 1992), United States attorney for the Northern District of Illinois and U.S. attorney in Chicago Bill Gibbons (J.D.), Memphis district attorney David J. Jordan (J.D. 1979), United States attorney for the District of Utah Charles M. La Follette (J.D.), deputy chief of counsel for the post-World War II Nuremberg Trials (1947)

Michelle M. Pettit (J.D. 2001), assistant U.S. attorney from California, National Security and Cybercrimes Section

Private practice

Bob Blake (LL.B 1908), Rhodes Scholar, president of the Missouri Constitutional Convention in 1944 Lucius E. Burch Jr. (J.D. 1936), attorney, best known for his contributions to conservation and civil rights, and attorney for Martin Luther King Jr.32 by 32; Our list of the finest literary works with a Memphis flavor , Memphis Magazine, December 2007. Bobby Lee Cook, defense attorney, inspiration for the television series Matlock main character Ben Matlock, which starred Andy Griffith as a Georgia attorney. Margie Pitts Hames (J.D. 1961), civil rights lawyer who argued the abortion rights case Doe v. Bolton before the U.S. Supreme Court John Jay Hooker (J.D. 1957), lawyer, entrepreneur, political gadfly, special assistant to Robert F. Kennedy Robert J. Kabel (J.D. 1972), attorney and lobbyist involved in developing the Gramm–Leach–Bliley Act (1999) and the Dodd-Frank Act (2010) John Bell Keeble (LL.B 1888), attorney, co-founded Keeble, Seay, Stockwell and Keeble James F. Neal (J.D. 1957), trial lawyer, Watergate prosecutor who prosecuted Jimmy Hoffa and top officials of the Nixon Administration, special investigator of the Abscam and Iran-contra scandals John Randolph Neal Jr. (LL.B 1896), attorney, best known for his role as chief counsel during the 1925 Scopes trial Neil Papiano (LL.B 1961), lawyer, and managing partner of Iverson, Yoakum, Papiano & Hatch James Gordon Shanklin (LL.B 1935), lawyer, key investigator of the Kennedy assassination, co-implemented the FBI's National Crime Information Center Jack Thompson (J.D. 1976), disbarred attorney and activist against obscenity and violence in media and entertainment Horace Henry White (LL.B 1887), lawyer, authored legal volumes White's Notarial Guide and White's Analytical Index

Business

James M. Anderson (J.D. 1966), former president and CEO of the Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center Paul S. Atkins (J.D. 1983), CEO of Patomak Global Partners LLC Thomas W. Beasley (J.D. 1973), co-founder of CoreCivic James W. Bradford (J.D. 1974), former CEO of AFG Industries Mark Dalton (J.D. 1975), attorney, CEO of the Tudor Investment Corporation Mark L. Feidler (J.D. 1981), chairman of Equifax Mitch Glazier (J.D. 1991), chairman and CEO of the Recording Industry Association of America Robert Selph Henry (LL.B 1910), vice president of the Association of American Railroads (1934–1958) Justin Ishbia (J.D. 2004), businessman and founding partner of Shore Capital Partners Jackson W. Moore (J.D. 1973), former executive chairman of Union Planters Bank and Regions Financial Corporation Mike McWherter (J.D. 1981), chairman of the board of First State Bank Grant Starrett (J.D. 2009), American real estate developer Bill Steltemeier (J.D.), founding president of the Eternal Word Television Network Tom Tait (J.D. 1985), CEO of Tait & Associates, Inc. and Tait Environmental Services, Inc. Darrin Williams (J.D. 1993), former politician, CEO of Southern Bancorp Inc.

Entertainment

Eric L. Harry (J.D. 1984), author best known for his novels Arc Light and Invasion Merle Hazard (J.D. 1993), satirist known as the 'Weird Al' of Wall Street" Steven Machat (J.D. 1977), entertainment mogul Clay Travis (J.D. 2004), journalist, writer, tv analyst; host, The Clay Travis and Buck Sexton Show; founder, OutKick

Government

Paul S. Atkins (J.D. 1983), 34th chairman of the Securities and Exchange Commission Bill Corr (J.D.), chief of staff for the secretary of Health and Human Services and deputy secretary of the HHS James Danly (J.D. 2013), commissioner of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission Phyllis Fong (J.D. 1978), inspector general of the United States Department of Agriculture Vince Foster, former deputy White House chief of staff J. Christopher Giancarlo (J.D. 1984), former chairman of the United States Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) Dorsey B. Hardeman (LL.B), former executive director and commissioner of the Texas Water Commission E. William Henry (J.D. 1957), Federal Communications Commission chairman (1963–1966) Robert L. King (J.D. 1971), assistant secretary of Education, serving as head of the Office of Postsecondary Education W. H. Kornegay (LL.B 1890), delegate to Oklahoma Constitutional Convention Howard Liebengood (J.D. 1967), 27th sergeant at arms of the United States Senate James McHenry III (J.D. 2003), director, Executive Office for Immigration Review, former acting attorney general of the United States Paul C. Ney Jr. (JD, MBA 1984), general counsel of the Department of Defense of the United States Steve Owens (J.D. 1981), chairman of the U.S. Chemical Safety Board Stephen D. Potts (LL.B 1954), 4th director of the United States Office of Government Ethics Ronald J. Rychlak (J.D. 1983), adviser of the Holy See to the United Nations, delegate of the Assembly of States Parties to the International Criminal Court Michael Shaheen (J.D. 1965), 1st director of the U.S. Department of Justice Office of Professional Responsibility Hans von Spakovsky (J.D. 1984), Federal Election Commission commissioner Walton J. Wood, first public defender in U.S. history (Los Angeles County)<ref> Yoo Myung-hee (J.D. 2002), minister for trade of South Korea

Judicial

Federal

Tamara W. Ashford (J.D. 1994), Article I judge of the United States Tax Court Jennings Bailey (LL.B 1890), U.S. district judge of the United States District Court for the District of Columbia Megan Benton (J.D. 2010), U.S. district judge for the United States District Court for the Western District of Missouri Claria Horn Boom (J.D. 1994), U.S. district judge of the United States District Court for Eastern and Western Kentucky Waverly D. Crenshaw Jr. (J.D. 1981), U.S. district judge of the United States District Court for the Middle District of Tennessee Martha Craig Daughtrey (J.D. 1968), senior U.S. circuit judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit Mary Dimke (J.D. 2002), U.S. district judge of the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Washington William Joseph Haynes Jr. (J.D. 1973), U.S. district judge of the United States District Court for the Middle District of Tennessee Thomas Aquinas Higgins (LL.B 1957), U.S. district judge of the United States District Court for the Middle District of Tennessee John W. Holland (LL.B 1906), U.S. district judge of the United States District Court for the Southern District of Florida Oscar Richard Hundley (LL.B 1877) – United States Federal Judge by recess appointment from President Theodore Roosevelt Jeremy Kernodle (J.D. 2001), U.S. district judge of the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Texas James C. Mahan (J.D. 1973), senior U.S. district judge of the United States District Court for the District of Nevada Gilbert S. Merritt Jr. (LL.B 1960), lawyer and jurist, senior United States circuit judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit Jon Phipps McCalla (J.D. 1974), senior U.S. district judge of the United States District Court for the Western District of Tennessee Leon Clarence McCord (Law, 1900), senior United States circuit judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit Travis Randall McDonough (J.D. 1997), U.S. district judge of the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Tennessee Brian Stacy Miller (J.D. 1995), chief U.S. district judge of the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Arkansas John Trice Nixon (LL.B 1960), senior U.S. district judge of the United States District Court for the Middle District of Tennessee Tommy Parker (J.D. 1989), U.S. district judge of the United States District Court for the Western District of Tennessee Thomas W. Phillips (J.D. 1969), senior U.S. district judge of the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Tennessee Jonathan Pittman (J.D. 1990), associate judge of the Superior Court of the District of Columbia Sam C. Pointer Jr. (A.B. 1955), U.S. district judge for Northern Alabama, noted figure in complex multidistrict class-action litigation Kevin H. Sharp (J.D. 1993), U.S. district judge of the United States District Court for the Middle District of Tennessee Jane Branstetter Stranch (J.D. 1978), United States circuit judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit Aleta Arthur Trauger (M.A. 1972), U.S. district judge of the United States District Court for the Middle District of Tennessee Thomas A. Varlan (J.D. 1981), chief U.S. district judge of the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Tennessee Roger Vinson (J.D. 1971), senior U.S. district judge of the United States District Court for the Northern District of Florida, former member of the United States Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court Billy Roy Wilson (J.D. 1965), senior U.S. district judge of the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Arkansas Thomas A. Wiseman Jr. (J.D. 1954), senior U.S. district judge of the United States District Court for the Middle District of Tennessee Harry W. Wellford (LL.B 1950), senior circuit judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit Staci Michelle Yandle (J.D. 1987) – U.S. district judge of the United States District Court for the Southern District of Illinois

State

Jeffrey S. Bivins (J.D. 1986), chief justice of the Supreme Court of Tennessee John P. Bourcier (J.D. 1953), former justice of the Rhode Island Supreme Court Albert M. Clark (LL.B 1900), former justice of the Supreme Court of Missouri Cornelia Clark (J.D. 1979), former chief of the Tennessee Supreme Court Larry Creson (LL.B 1928), former justice of the Tennessee Supreme Court Frank P. Culver Jr. (B.A. 1911), former justice of the Supreme Court of Texas Frank Drowota (B.A. 1960, J.D. 1965), former chief justice of the Tennessee Supreme Court Eric Eisnaugle (J.D. 2003), justice of the Florida Fifth District Court of Appeal Andrew O. Holmes (LL.B. 1929), justice of the Tennessee Supreme Court