Justice Stephen R. McCullough

Bio

Justice Stephen R. McCullough has served as a Justice on the Supreme Court of Virginia since 2016. He is a graduate with high distinction, Phi Beta Kappa, of the University of Virginia. He obtained his J.D. with honors from the University of Richmond Law School where he was selected for the law review and the moot court board.

McCullough began his legal career as a law clerk for Justice (later Chief Justice) Leroy R. Hassell Sr. He then joined the Virginia Office of the Attorney General as an assistant attorney general in the Criminal Litigation Section, where he handled criminal appeals and defended convictions from collateral attack in state and federal court.

In 2007, he was promoted to Deputy Solicitor General and later to Solicitor General. The Solicitor General Section in the Attorney General’s Office represents Virginia in non-capital cases before the United States Supreme Court, defends state statutes and regulations against constitutional challenge, and handles high profile cases as assigned by the Attorney General. He was awarded a United States Supreme Court Fellowship with the National Association of Attorneys General and received two “Best Brief” awards from the National Association of Attorneys General for briefs he authored in the United States Supreme Court. McCullough next served as Senior Appellate Counsel and Opinions Counsel in the Office of the Attorney General.

In 2011, the General Assembly of Virginia elected McCullough to a judgeship on the Court of Appeals of Virginia.

He has served on a number of committees and commissions, including the Access to Justice Commission, the Boyd Graves Conference, and the Virginia Bar Association Board of Governors. He currently chairs the Virginia Model Jury Instructions Committee. McCullough has written and lectured extensively on appellate procedure and criminal law.