J. Michael Luttig

John Michael Luttig ( ; born June 13, 1954) is an American corporate lawyer and jurist who served as a judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit from 1991 to 2006. Luttig resigned his judicial appointment in 2006 to become the general counsel of Boeing, a position he held until 2019. Early life and education Luttig was born in 1954 in Tyler, Texas. He graduated from Washington and Lee University in 1976 with a Bachelor of Arts with Omicron Delta Kappa honors. From 1976 to 1978, Luttig worked for the U.S. Supreme Court's Office of the Administrative Assistant to the Chief Justice, where he developed a close friendship with Chief Justice Warren E. Burger. Luttig then attended the University of Virginia School of Law, graduating with a Juris Doctor degree in 1981. Career After law school, Luttig spent a year in the Reagan administration as an associate with the White House Counsel, Fred F. Fielding, who hired him on Burger's recommendation. Luttig's duties included reviewing potential judicial appointments and vetting them for ideological consistency with the administration's policies. From 1982 to 1983, Luttig served as a law clerk to judge (later Supreme Court justice in 1986) Antonin Scalia of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit, one of the potential judges he had vetted in his prior job. Luttig then clerked for Chief Justice Warren Burger of the Supreme Court of the United States from 1983 to 1984. After his Supreme Court clerkship, Luttig continued to work for Chief Justice Burger as a special assistant until 1985. Luttig later served as co-executor of Burger's one-page will, which gained notoriety for Burger's failure to dictate how estate taxes should be paid. In 1985, Luttig entered private practice at the law firm Davis Polk & Wardwell. He returned to government service in 1989, holding various positions within the United States Department of Justice until 1991 under President George H. W. Bush, including assistant attorney general in charge of the Office of Legal Counsel. His duties in the Justice Department included assisting Supreme Court nominees David Souter and Clarence Thomas through the nomination and confirmation process, including their Senate confirmation hearings.