William L. Campbell Jr.


William Lynn "Chip" Campbell Jr. is a United States District Judge of the United States District Court for the Middle District of Tennessee.

Education and military service

He received his Bachelor of Science in political science from the United States Naval Academy and served seven years in the United States Marine Corps, principally as a Naval Flight Officer. He received his Juris Doctor from the University of Alabama School of Law, where he served as editor-in-chief of the Alabama Law Review and was an inductee of the Order of the Coif.

Legal career

He previously worked as an associate and later a partner in the Nashville firm of Riley Warnock & Jacobson, PLC, and as an associate in the Birmingham, Alabama, office of Maynard, Cooper & Gale, P.C. Before becoming a judge, he was a member in the Nashville office of Frost Brown Todd, LLC, where he handled a wide range of civil litigation matters.

Federal judicial service

On July 13, 2017, President Trump nominated Campbell to serve as a United States District Judge of the United States District Court for the Middle District of Tennessee, to the seat vacated by Judge Kevin H. Sharp, who resigned on April 15, 2017. Campbell's nomination was taken up by the United States Senate Judiciary Committee. On September 6, 2017, the Judiciary Committee held a hearing on his nomination. On October 5, 2017, his nomination was favorably reported to the full Senate. On January 9, 2018, his nomination was confirmed by a vote of 97–0. He received his judicial commission on January 12, 2018.
On July 24, 2020, Campbell blocked part of Tennessee's abortion law that would ban abortions after the detection of a fetal heartbeat.