Robert Dorsey Watkins

Robert Dorsey Watkins (September 23, 1900 – March 19, 1986) was a United States federal judge.

Born in Baltimore, Maryland, Watkins received an A.B. from Johns Hopkins University in 1922, a Ph.D. from Johns Hopkins University in 1925, and an LL.B. from the University of Maryland School of Law in 1925. He was a Lecturer, Johns Hopkins University from 1923 to 1965. He was a Lecturer, University of Maryland School of Law from 1925 to 1968.

Watkins was in private practice in Baltimore, Maryland from 1925 to 1955 and was a name partner in the firm of Piper, Watkins, Avirett & Egerton, which merged with Marbury, Miller & Evans to form Piper & Marbury in 1952.^[1]

Watkins was a federal judge on the United States District Court for the District of Maryland. Watkins received a recess appointment from President Dwight D. Eisenhower on August 12, 1955, to a seat vacated by William Caldwell Coleman. Formally nominated on January 12, 1956. He was confirmed by the United States Senate on March 1, 1956, and received his commission on March 2, 1956. He served as chief judge from 1970-1970. He assumed senior status on August 11, 1971. Watkins served in that capacity until his death, in Catonsville, Maryland.

Sources

• Robert Dorsey Watkins at the Biographical Directory of Federal Judges, a public domain publication of the Federal Judicial Center.

References