Courts 
Welcome to the Hill Family Association's History section on Hill relatives who have served in the state courts, local courts and federal court systems of the United States as judges, district attorneys, court clerks and other judicial positions.
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Benjamin Harvey Hill Jr. was born 1 Jul 1849 in LaGrange, Georgia, a son of Benjamin Harvey Hill Sr. (a US Senator) and Caroline Holt. Ben moved to Athens in 1866 and studied at the University of Georgia. He graduated in 1869 with both a BA and LL.B degree in law. He held several state and federal offices, including some elective offices, between 1869 and 1889. He practiced law in Atlanta with his brother, Charles D. Hill. He published a biography of his father, Benjamin Harvey Hill Sr., Governor and US Senator, in 1891.
On January 2, 1907 the newly created Court of Appeals of Georgia convened for the first time and elected Benjamin H. Hill, Jr. as its Chief Judge. He remained in this office until November 1, 1913, when he resigned to accept another judgeship. When he became a member of the Georgia Court of Appeals in 1907 Ben already had a distinguished career behind him. His service on the Court of Appeals was also distinguished. He wrote the first opinion of the Court, in the case of Hunter v. Lissner. He joined the Court in expanding in individual rights in criminal cases beyond previous Georgia Supreme Court decisions. He authored several opinions for the Court especially noteworthy in the history of liberty, rights, and justice.
The greatest of his opinions, one of the best examples in the annals of judicial decisions upholding freedom, was his opinion in Underwood v. State (1913). He did two things in his rich and evocative language. First, he delivered the most powerful rebuke in judicial history to the crime control philosophy that tolerates, even depends upon, violations of basic rights to combat crime.
John L. Hill was born in 1923 in Breckenridge, Tx. He graduated from the University of Texas School of Law with honors in 1947 and became an attorney.
He was appointed Secretary of State of Texas by Governor John Connally and served 1966-1968. He lost a bid for the govenorship in 1968. He was elected Attorney General of Texas in 1972 and served to 1979. In 1972 and 1974, Mr. Hill was elected attorney general of Texas. In 1978, he ran against Dolph Briscoe for the Democratic gubernatorial nomination and won, but he lost the election to Republican William Clements. In 1983, he became a Justice of the Supreme Court of Texas. In 1984, he was elected Chief Justice, becoming the first person in Texas history to serve as Secretary of State, Attorney General and Chief Justice.
John is currently a senior partner in the Houston law firm of Locke Liddell & Sapp LLP where he heads the litigation section. In his earlier practice in Houston, he was a partner in Hill, Brown, Knonzer, & Abraham. John is a member of the American College of Trial Lawyers, International Academy of Trial Lawyers, International Society of Barristers, Order of the Coif Legal Society. He serves as President of Texans for Judicial Excellence, among many other professional affiliations. He has received the Leon Green Award for Outstanding Service to the Legal Profession; the American Judicature Society Herbert Hawley Award; the Freedom of the Press Award; the Marc Gold Award for Outstanding Service to the Mentally Retarded; the Karen H. Susman Jurisprudence Award; and the Lola Wright Foundation Award for Legal Ethics. In 1991, Judge Hill was named a Distinguished Alumnus of The University of Texas, and in 1997 he received the Law School's Lifetime Achievement Award.
William A. Hill was named a Justice of the Supreme Court of Colorado and served 1909-1919. He was named Chief Justice of the Court and served in this position from 1918-1919.
George Hill was serving as Judge of the Circuit Court of Wood County, West Virginia in 1994.
Glynnis Hill is a Judge of the Court of Common Pleas in Philadephia, Pennsylvania.
Reuben B. Hill became a Judge of the Marion County Superior Court of Indiana in Mar 2000. Reuben, 61, had been serving as a pro tem judge since 1999. Before then, he was a managing partner with Butler, Hahn, Hill & Schembs, attorneys. He is a former executive director of Flanner House, Indianapolis and worked as an Indiana State Trooper before he received his law degree in 1971.
Stephen D. Hill served as a District Judge of the 6th Judicial District of Kansas (Miami, Linn and Bourbon Counties) since 1981. He was appointed by the Kansas Supreme Court as administrative judge of the district in 1990 and now serves as Chief Judge. He is a graduate of Washburn University School of Law and practices law in Mound City. He also served as Assistant Attorney of Miami County in Paola. He was appointed Linn County Attorney and then elected to the post in 1976.
He was nominated for a seat on the Kansas State Supreme Court.
William Asa Hill, a judge in Texas in 1913. Son of Asa Collinsworth Hill.
William Ralph Hill is Judge of the Lookout Mountain Judicial Circuit at Lafayette, Georgia.
Richard W. Hill was born 10 Sep 1941 in Orange, NJ, son of Warren and Grace Hill. He graduated from Colgate Univ. in 1963 and received a JD degree in law from Rutgers University Law School, graduating cum laude in 1966. He was a judicial clerk to Judge William Smith, US Circuit Judge for the third Circuit Court of Appeals, 1966-67. He then became an attorney with McCarter & English, 1967-1971.
He served as an Assistant United States Attorney, 1971-1975, when he was appointed a Referee in Bankruptcy for the United States Bankruptcy Court for the District of New Jersey. He resigned from the bench in 1984 and returned to McCarter & English.
He and his wife Valerie were married in 1964.
Russell J. Hill was named a Judge of the United States Bankruptcy Court, District of Southern Iowa.
William A. Hill is was named a Judge of the United States Bankruptcy Court, District of North Dakota in 1995 and is currently Chief Judge of the court.
George E. Hill served as United States District Attorney for the Western District of Michigan, 1961-1964.
Reuben D. (Ruben) Hill served as US District Attorney for the Western District of Kentucky, 1898-1906.
Stephen Lawrence Hill Jr. served as United States District Attorney for the Western District of Missouri, 1994-1998.
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