Alexander Campbell King

Alexander Campbell King (1856–1926) was a United States circuit judge who served on the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit from 1920 to 1924. Prior to his appointment to the federal bench, he served as the 16th Solicitor General of the United States under President Woodrow Wilson and maintained a lengthy career in private practice focused on railroad law. He was also a founding partner of what became the international law firm King & Spalding.

Early life and legal career

Alexander Campbell King was born on December 7, 1856, in Charleston, South Carolina, to J. Gadsden King and Carolina Clifford (Postell) King. Rather than pursuing formal legal education at a university, King read law—a traditional method of legal training in which aspiring attorneys studied under practicing lawyers—completing this preparation in 1875 at the age of nineteen. This approach to legal education was common in the latter half of the nineteenth century, particularly in the South, and allowed individuals to enter the practice of law without attending law school.

Following his admission to the bar, King established himself in private practice in Atlanta, Georgia, where he would work for more than four decades, from 1875 to 1918. During this extended period in private practice, he developed particular expertise in railroad law, serving as general legal counsel to numerous railroad companies during an era when railroads were among the most significant and legally complex business enterprises in the United States. His railroad-related legal work included serving as assistant general counsel for the Atlanta & West Point Railroad from 1887 to 1893. During this same period, he simultaneously held the position of general counsel for the East & West Railroad of Alabama from 1887 to 1889, demonstrating his capacity to manage multiple significant client relationships. He also served as assistant general counsel to both the Richmond and Danville Railroad and the Richmond & West Point Terminal Company from 1890 to 1892, and later represented the Chattanooga, Rome and Columbus Railroad from 1894 to 1901.

Beyond his railroad practice, King contributed to the legal profession in Georgia through public service. He served on the board of directors of the State Bar Examiners for the State of Georgia from 1913 to 1918, an appointment that reflected his standing in the state's legal community. During this period, he also served one term as chairman of this body, which was responsible for evaluating candidates seeking admission to practice law in Georgia. In 1912, while still in private practice, King was appointed to serve as a committee member for the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit, tasked with reporting on revisions to equity practice in United States courts. This appointment provided him with early exposure to the federal appellate court on which he would later serve as a judge. In 1916, King received a civil law degree from Sewanee: The University of the South, located in Sewanee, Tennessee, supplementing his earlier legal training with formal academic credentials.

King's career took a significant turn when he was appointed as the 16th Solicitor General of the United States, serving from November 21, 1918, to May 24, 1920. As Solicitor General, he represented the federal government before the Supreme Court of the United States and oversaw the government's appellate litigation. His extensive background in railroad law proved particularly valuable to the administration during this period, as he brought specialized expertise to cases involving railroad companies. Throughout 1919, he contributed his knowledge to matters involving the Southern Pacific Railroad, among other railroad-related litigation. During his tenure as Solicitor General, King also served as a counselor for the American Red Cross, contributing to that organization's work during the period immediately following World War I.

Federal appellate service

On April 29, 1920, President Woodrow Wilson, a Democrat, nominated King to serve as a circuit judge on the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit. The nomination was made to fill a seat that had been vacated by Judge Don Albert Pardee. The United States Senate confirmed King's nomination on May 24, 1920, and he received his commission on the same day, marking his transition from the position of Solicitor General directly to the federal appellate bench. This appointment represented the culmination of a legal career that had spanned more than four decades and included both private practice and high-level government service.

The Fifth Circuit at the time of King's appointment had jurisdiction over federal appeals from the states of Georgia, Florida, Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana, and Texas, as well as the Canal Zone. This made it one of the geographically largest and most significant of the federal appellate circuits, handling a diverse array of legal matters arising from a region undergoing substantial economic and social change in the early twentieth century. As a circuit judge, King would have participated in three-judge panels hearing appeals from federal district courts within the circuit's jurisdiction, reviewing questions of law and, in some instances, findings of fact from the trial courts below.

King served on the Fifth Circuit for approximately four and a half years. His service on the court terminated on December 31, 1924, when he resigned from the federal bench. The reasons for his resignation are not specified in the available records, but it was not uncommon for federal judges of that era to return to private practice, particularly given the financial constraints of judicial salaries compared to the potential earnings in private law practice.

Jurisprudence and legacy

Following his resignation from the federal judiciary, King returned to private legal practice in Atlanta, working from 1925 until his death in 1926. During this final period of his career, he rejoined the law firm that would become one of the most prominent in the United States. He served as a founding partner of the firm then known as King, Spalding, MacDougal & Sibley, which later became known simply as King & Spalding. This firm would grow into an international law practice with offices around the world, though King's involvement was limited to the final year of his life.

King died on July 25, 1926, in Flat Rock, located in Henderson County, North Carolina. He was interred in Atlanta, the city where he had maintained his residence and practiced law for the majority of his professional life. At the time of his death, he had been married to Alice May Fowler for forty-five years, and he was survived by his wife and two sons.

King's contributions to the legal profession have been memorialized through the Alexander Campbell King Law Library at the University of Georgia School of Law, which bears his name and serves the law school community. This recognition reflects his significance to Georgia's legal community and his contributions to the development of law in the state and the broader Fifth Circuit region during a formative period in American legal history.