James T. Turner

Content sourced from Wikipedia, licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0.

James T. Turner (born March 12, 1938) is a senior judge on the U.S. Court of Federal Claims (the former U.S. Court of Claims). He has served on the court since 1987 and became a senior judge in 2002.

Turner was born in Clifton Forge, Virginia. He earned a BA from Wake Forest College in 1960 and an LLB from the University of Virginia in 1965. He served in the U.S. Army from 1960 to 1962, reaching the rank of captain in Army Intelligence.

Before becoming a judge, Turner worked in various jobs: a desk reporter for the Winston-Salem Journal (1960), a construction laborer in Charlottesville (1963), a legal assistant (1963–1965), and then private practice in Norfolk (1965–1979) with the firm Williams, Worrell, Kelly & Greer.

He was a U.S. magistrate judge for the Eastern District of Virginia from July 1979 until his 1987 federal appointment. President Ronald Reagan nominated him to the U.S. Court of Claims to fill Haldane Mayer’s seat. He was confirmed by the Senate on July 1, 1987, and took the bench on July 2, 1987, with duties starting August 19, 1987. He became a senior judge on July 2, 2002.

Turner is married to Patricia Renfrow and has a son named James III. He belongs to several bar associations, including the American Bar Association, Virginia Bar Association, Virginia State Bar, and Norfolk and Portsmouth Bar Association.