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CHIEF JUSTICE, SUPREME COURT OF VIRGINIA, RICHMOND
CHIEF JUSTICE, SUPREME COURT OF VIRGINIA, RICHMOND
Virginia Business// August 29, 2024//
It’s little wonder Goodwyn’s classmates at Southampton High School handed him the “most likely to succeed” superlative. Quarterback of the high school football team, Goodwyn was also president of the student body and valedictorian.
Goodwyn headed to Harvard, where he played football and ran track. An economics major, Goodwyn graduated magna cum laude.
After earning his law degree at the University of Virginia in 1986, Goodwyn worked in private practice in Norfolk. In 1995, he became the first Black judge appointed to the Chesapeake General District Court.
Goodwyn stayed in that role for two years, then served as a judge of the Chesapeake Circuit Court for a decade. He once told a reporter he liked being a judge because it allowed him to be active in the community.
In 2007, Gov. Tim Kaine appointed Goodwyn to the Virginia Supreme Court. In 2021, fellow justices tapped Goodwyn to be chief justice, making him the second Black chief justice in Virginia’s history.
In January, Goodwyn swore in Del. Don. L. Scott Jr., D-Portsmouth, to be the first Black speaker of Virginia’s House of Delegates.
