Julia Smith Gibbons

Julia Smith Gibbons (born in 1950) is a senior United States circuit judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit.

Education and career Gibbons was born and grew up in Pulaski, Tennessee. She attended public schools and was the valedictorian at Giles County High School, class of 1968. She received a Bachelor of Arts, magna cum laude, from Vanderbilt University in 1972 and was elected to Phi Beta Kappa. She received a Juris Doctor from the University of Virginia School of Law in 1975, where she was elected to Order of the Coif and was an editor of the Virginia Law Review.

After graduation, from 1975 to 1976, she served as a law clerk to the late Honorable William Ernest Miller, Circuit Judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit. She was admitted to the Tennessee bar in 1975. She was in private practice from 1976 to 1979 with the Memphis firm of Farris, Hancock, Gilman, Branan & Lanier. In 1979, she joined Tennessee Governor Lamar Alexander's staff as a legal advisor.

Judicial service

State Court service In 1981, Governor Lamar Alexander appointed Gibbons to serve as a judge of the Tennessee Circuit Court for the Fifteenth Judicial Circuit,

District Court service Gibbons was nominated by President Ronald Reagan on April 12, 1983, to a seat on the United States District Court for the Western District of Tennessee vacated by Judge Harry W. Wellford. She was confirmed by the United States Senate on June 6, 1983, and received commission on June 7, 1983. She served as Chief Judge from 1994 to 2000. Her service terminated on August 2, 2002, due to elevation to the court of appeals. She received her commission on July 31, 2002. Gibbons assumed senior status on September 17, 2024.

In 2021, Gibbons received the Devitt Award, the highest honor awarded to an Article III judge, for distinguished career and significant contributions to the administration of justice, the advancement of the rule of law, and the improvement of society as a whole.

In 2025, Gibbons was awarded the Lewis F. Powell Jr. Award for exemplary service in the areas of professionalism, ethics, civility, and excellence by the American Inns of Court.

Also in 2025, Gibbons was awarded the Women of Achievement Steadfastness award for a lifetime of service.

Notable cases Gibbons wrote a concurring opinion in a 2–1 decision upholding Biden administration COVID-19 vaccine mandate for federal employees and contractors. In her concurrence, Gibbons highlighted the limited role of the federal judiciary in COVID policy.

Personal Gibbons has been married since 1973 to Bill Gibbons, a former Shelby County district attorney. They have two adult children.

In 2009, she was invited to judge the Annual William Minor Lile Moot Court Competition at the University of Virginia School of Law.

In 2010, she was invited to judge the Ames Moot Court Competition at Harvard Law School.

In 2016, she was invited to judge the Bass Berry & Sims Moot Court Competition at Vanderbilt Law School.