Welcome to the Hot Bench, Professor Buck ’85! Let’s start where we usually do: Can you tell me a little bit more about what made you decide to pursue law? You didn’t start your career in law, so I was wondering what that transition was like for you.
I first transferred to UVA undergrad for my third year, which meant that I graduated with the first graduating class of women at the university. I loved Charlottesville from the moment I drove up here from Mississippi, so I knew I wanted to stay. I ended up working a little bit, going back to school, and then ended up working on a series of emergency medical grants for the University Medical Center. But then the grant money ran out. And I really wanted to stay in Charlottesville. All my life, people had said how much I liked to argue, and so I thought, okay, I’ll go to law school.
It seems like those people may have been on to something, because weren’t you a finalist in the Lile Moot Court Competition when you were a student? Could you tell me about that experience? Do you remember the problem?
Yes, it was a RICO problem. I can’t remember the exact RICO issue I had. But RICO had been newly enacted, so it was an issue of first impression. At that point, most students were participating in Lile, so it was a big deal. Caplin Auditorium was filled and overflowing with students sitting in the aisles for the final round. And one of the reasons—I don’t think it was to hear me argue—but one of the reasons it was so full was because Justice O’Connor was one of the judges. She had agreed to be a judge before she was on the Supreme Court, but by the time of the argument, she was the newest member of the Court. So that was a great deal of fun. My moot court partner had a toddler and was pregnant at the time of the argument. I remember at the dinner afterward she was asking Justice O'Connor if she had any advice about how to combine being a parent with the legal profession.
During the information session for Lile this year, the board touted the fact that Justice O’Connor had once judged the final round. I hadn’t realized that you were one of the finalists she was judging! Are there any other fond memories you have of your time at law school?
I was co-captain of our first-year softball section team. Obviously, now I have difficulty with mobility, but I didn't back then. I was involved in all sorts of athletics. I played third base, and I enjoyed that a lot. I obviously made some good friends that I’m still in touch with. One of the other things that helped me keep my sanity in law school was that, having lived here already for six or seven years, I had most of my close friends. One of my closest friends had two young children at the time. I enjoyed time spent with them, and I remember going to their preschool kite-flying day. I didn’t skip class to do this! But it was on a Friday, and so things like that really helped me stay balanced and keep things in perspective. Looking back, I really appreciated the environment of the Law School, where you’re surrounded by all these amazing peers and professors who care about you, and you can just sit and discuss these interesting topics. That seemed almost decadent to me. At the same time as being very stressful!
Another part of my law school experience that is very memorable started because of how busy the fall semester of my 2L year was—no surprise there. I decided not to go home for Thanksgiving—I needed to outline and study for finals. So, I spent Thanksgiving day with a group of astronomy grad student friends. One of the grad students who was there was relatively new to Charlottesville—we had mutual friends, but I had never met him. Well, long story short, we hit it off right away and got married three years later. So, I owe my very happy marriage to how busy I was in law school!
Were there any professors you had that stood out to you at the time?
I really enjoyed my Constitutional Law class with Professor David Martin. One reason I think I liked that class so much is that having grown up in Mississippi in the 1960s—I was in high school in the 1960s—it was fascinating to me, having lived through some of the civil rights movement down there, to then read about some of the cases that came out of Jackson, Mississippi. I found that my experiences provided such context, and it was good for me to read those cases. My experience living through the period brought more to my understanding of the cases.
Can you tell me more about your time in practice before coming back to serve on the faculty at the Law School? Are there any achievements or experiences that you are most proud of?
Yes, there was definitely at least one proud moment that stands out, and that’s when I was first appointed to a pro bono criminal case. I was working at a civil litigation firm at the time. What happened was that when I was studying for the bar, my retina detached. I had to have eye surgery and couldn’t take the bar. So I had to go ahead and start at the firm in Georgia and then take the January bar. Then the partner with whom I was working wanted me to take depositions in this big case we had, so I needed to be admitted. Rather than being admitted like normal with the thousands of people being admitted at the same time, the partner arranged with a judge with whom he was friends to admit me especially by myself.
Now that’s a story in itself. I went to the courthouse with one of the senior partners, and it was criminal law day at the courthouse. So the jury box was filled with, seriously, the accused in chains. The judge took care of some of those cases and then called me up saying that he understands I’m a candidate for admission to the bar. And so I’m up there, and he decides to have fun with me. He said, “you know, Miss Buck, in my day, we didn’t have the bar exam. We were questioned by a judge in order to be admitted.” And then he went on and he asked things like: “What do you think the most pressing issues in Georgia law are today?” I just started thinking of things I’d read in the newspapers, so I did that one just fine. But then he said, “so you’re with the firm of so and so, can you name those attorneys in reverse alphabetical order for me?” At which point there was tittering in the courtroom. So I just said “of course I could, your honor, but given how busy you are in the courtroom, perhaps we could do that later. I could come to your chambers and give you that information.” He seemed to like that, so he let me off the hook.
But then he appointed me to this poor sucker sitting there, seeing that I was just newly admitted. I hadn’t even taken criminal procedure during law school. We went out on the Fulton County Courthouse steps, and I first reassured him that although, as he saw, I was newly admitted to the bar, I had a whole firm behind me. I just didn’t mention that we didn’t do any criminal law cases. Then I asked for the indictment—I’d never seen an indictment before—and I noticed that it was pages and pages of prior charges. I went directly to the public defender’s office, and by the time I got there, they said “so you’re the one.” I ended up researching the law, and it turned out that he had been wrongly charged under a statute that required him to have three prior felonies. So at the next hearing, I went up there, and I explained to the judge that he had been wrongly charged. The judge looked at the statute right then and said I was right and dropped the charges.
So you won your first-ever case?
I won.
With no criminal procedure or criminal law experience?
Yes. I have a 100 percent success rate in criminal law cases.
I can only hope for the same success rate in my career. Moving on finally to your time as a professor, I have a hypothesis that you have taught more UVA Law students than any other professor in UVA Law’s history. What do you think about that?
Because of the nature of what I teach, I think that’s probably true.
I’ve come up with a game. I compiled a list of some UVA Law alumni, and I am curious if you can tell me whether or not you taught them when they were students. Let’s start off here at the Law School: Dean Leslie Kendrick ’06?
No. But I did teach Jim Ryan [’92].
Joe Fore ’11?
Yes.
Micah Schwartzman ’05?
Yes. And I taught Cale Jaffe [’01] as well.
Charles Barzun ’05?
Yes.
Scott Ballenger ’96?
No.
Toby Heytens ’00?
Yes.
Sticking with the judicial theme, Jasmine Yoon ’06?
Yes.
Christopher Kavanaugh ’06?
Yes.
There was no famous Kennedy during your time as a Professor, but there was still a Kennedy: Max Kennedy ’92?
No. But I did have Yusef Jackson [’96], Jesse Jackson’s son.
Laura Ingraham ’91?
Yes.
Wow, so that was even more yeses than I expected. I haven’t done the math, but you must have taught thousands of students, right?
Yes, I think that is probably right.
Okay, so now it is time for our lightning round! Favorite winery in Charlottesville?
Glass House Winery.
If you could play one sport professionally, what sport would that be?
Tennis.
Favorite Thanksgiving food?
Butternut squash puree.
Coffee or tea?
Tea.
Favorite type of tea?
Bigelow Lemon Lift.
In an alternate life, what career would you be working in?
Rockstar. I’d play keyboard for a rock band.
Okay, then I have to ask, what is your favorite rock band?
Probably The Stones. I also like The Who.
Have you ever been to one of their concerts?
No, I sacrificed so that my children could go with my husband. Not that I’m bitter.
Go-to karaoke song?
“Hit the Road, Jack.”
Early bird or night owl?
Night owl.
I can imagine how making all those red-line edits to memos keeps you up at night. Speaking of which, what is the most annoying mistake you see in LRW papers?
Not proofreading.
If you could teach one other course at the Law School, what would it be?
Probably criminal law.
When you were a kid, what did you want to be when you grew up?
I didn’t have an overwhelming desire to be anything in particular. I just knew I’d go to college and wanted to do something cool. At least I hoped I would. I think when I first went to college, my goal was to become a college professor.
Hmmmm. Curious how that one turned out. If you were to cook a showstopper meal for guests, what would you cook?
The true answer is that there simply is no such meal. Cooking is not my forte.
Are there aliens?
I don’t know why there wouldn’t be. I don’t necessarily think they have visited our planet. But somewhere in the universe? I can’t imagine why there wouldn’t be.
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Interviewed by Noah Coco ‘26