Robert Bruce King (born January 29, 1940) is an American jurist who has served as a United States circuit judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit since 1998. He was previously the United States Attorney for the Southern District of West Virginia from 1977 to 1981.
Career output and lasting influence
Opinions attributed per year · peak 22/year
Later decisions citing those opinions, per year · peak 807/year
Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals · 1998–
Both charts share the same year axis. Opinion counts include only opinions in our corpus attributed to this judge so far — a year at zero can mean an attribution gap, not judicial silence. Influence typically outlasts the career: citations keep climbing after the last opinion.
- Gender
- Male
- Race
- White
Prior employment
- Private practice, Charleston, West Virginia1975–1977, 1981–1998
U.S. attorney for the Southern District of West Virginia1977–1981
Assistant U.S. attorney · 1970–1974- Private practice, Lewisburg, West Virginia1969–1970
Law clerk , Hon. John A. Field · 1968–1969
Appointments
1998–present · Appointed by William J. Clinton (Democratic)
Education
- West Virginia University College of LawJ.D. · 1968
- West Virginia UniversityB.A. · 1961