Willis B. Hunt, Jr. (born 1932) is a federal judge serving on the United States District Court for the Northern District of Georgia. Nominated by President Bill Clinton on January 23, 1995 to replace Horace Ward, he was confirmed by the United States Senate on March 24, 1995, and received his commission on the same day. Judge Hunt assumed senior status on June 30, 2005. His courtroom is located in the Richard B. Russell Federal Building and United States Courthouse in downtown Atlanta.[1]
Born in Malden, Massachusetts, Hunt graduated from Emory University in 1954 with an LL.B. Since graduation, Hunt has always been in government service or the private legal profession: after completing his degree, he served in the United States Army from 1955–1957, after which he was a special agent with the FBI from 1957-1959. Leaving the Bureau, he practiced law privately for thirteen years: in Clearwater, Florida, 1959–1960; in Atlanta, Georgia, 1960–1967; and in the Houston County, Georgia cities of Perry and Warner Robins, 1967-1971. At this time, Hunt re-entered government service, being a judge on the Houston County Superior Court from 1971-1986 before being elected to the Georgia Supreme Court in 1986. During his time on the Georgia Supreme Court, Hunt earned an LL.M. from the University of Virginia School of Law in 1990.
On January 23, 1995, Hunt was nominated by President Bill Clinton to a seat on the United States District Court for the Northern District of Georgia vacated by Horace T. Ward. Hunt was confirmed by the United States Senate on March 24, 1995, and received his commission the same day. Among Hunt's leading cases since his appointment to the federal bench was a major corruption trial in early 2001, in which the Atlanta Business Chronicle saw a connection to the scandals of the late Clinton administration.[2] Hunt assumed senior status on June 30, 2005, but continues to hear cases in that capacity, and received some media coverage when he dismissed as "farcical" a lawsuit by prisoner Jonathan Lee Riches against Michael Vick.[3]