A. Benjamin Spencer — dean of the William & Mary Law School and holder of the Marshall-Wythe School of Law Foundation Trustee Professorship — is Of Counsel with McGuireWoods’ Business & Securities Litigation Department. During his legal career spanning more than two decades, he has distinguished himself in the field of federal civil litigation, serving as a consultant in civil litigation matters and as an expert on federal civil procedure and jurisdiction.
In 2017, Chief Justice of the United States John G. Roberts Jr. appointed Dean Spencer to the Advisory Committee on Civil Rules of the U.S. Judicial Conference.
Dean Spencer has written two books on civil procedure, “Acing Civil Procedure” and “Civil Procedure: A Contemporary Approach.” He also is an author of several volumes of Wright and Miller's “Federal Practice & Procedure,” a multivolume treatise that is the pre-eminent reference work on civil procedure topics for practitioners, courts and professors.
Dean Spencer previously taught at the University of Richmond, Washington & Lee University, George Washington University, the University of Chicago, Harvard Law School and the University of Virginia. He served a four-year term as a special assistant U.S. attorney for the Western District of Virginia, occasionally handling appellate pro bono cases in the 4th Circuit on behalf of the government. He also worked as an associate at an Am Law 100 firm and clerked for Judge Judith W. Rogers of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit.
In 2007, Dean Spencer was awarded the Virginia State Council of Higher Education “Rising Star” award, given to the most promising junior faculty member among all academic fields at all colleges and universities in Virginia. He was the first law professor to receive this award.
Dean Spencer serves as an officer in the Judge Advocate General's Corps of the U.S. Army (Reserve).
U.S. Army, Meritorious Service Medal, 2023
Virginia State Bar, Rakes Leadership in Legal Education Award, 2022
U.S. Army, Army Reserve Component Achievement Award, 2021, 2018
U.S. Army, Army Commendation Medal, 2019
U.S. Army, Army Achievement Medal, 2016
U.S. Army, National Defense Service Medal, 2015
Virginia State Council of Higher Education, “Rising Star” Award, 2007
Member, Virginia State Bar
Member, Bar of the District of Columbia
Member, Advisory Committee on Civil Rules of the U.S. Judicial Conference
Member, American Law Institute
Member, National Association of Corporate Directors
Member, West Academic Law School Advisory Board
Member, Audire Inc. Advisory Board
Member, British Ambassador’s Advisory Council
Member, Fourth Circuit Judicial Conference
Chair, Marshall Scholarship Selection Committee (D.C.)
Chair, National Conference of Bar Examiners’ Civil Procedure Multistate Bar Exam Drafting Committee
Fellow, Royal Society for Arts, Manufactures and Commerce
Former Member, Virginia State Bar Council
Former Chair, Virginia State Bar Section on the Education of Lawyers