Toby Jay Heytens

Toby Jay Heytens (born 1975) is an American attorney, law professor, and United States circuit judge on the Fourth Circuit. Appointed by President Joseph R. Biden in 2021, he has served as a federal appellate jurist since that time. Prior to his elevation to the bench, Heytens held the position of solicitor general of Virginia and accumulated extensive experience in both private practice and academia, including clerkships at the United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit and the Supreme Court of the United States.

Early life and legal career

Heytens was born in 1975 and pursued his undergraduate education at Macalester College, where he earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in 1997. He continued his studies at the University of Virginia School of Law, graduating with a Juris Doctor in 2000. While at UVA, he contributed to the Virginia Law Review as an articles development editor and graduated with membership in the Order of the Coif, reflecting high academic achievement.

Following law school, Heytens began his legal career with a clerkship for Chief Judge Edward R. Becker of the United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit, serving from 2000 to 2001. He then entered the Bristow Fellowship in the Office of the Solicitor General of the United States, where he worked from 2001 to 2002 on matters before the Supreme Court. His appellate experience was further deepened by a subsequent clerkship with Associate Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg of the Supreme Court of the United States during the 2002‑2003 term.

After completing his Supreme Court clerkship, Heytens joined the Washington, D.C., office of O'Melveny & Myers. From 2003 to 2006 he practiced in the firm’s Supreme Court and appellate practice group, handling complex federal litigation. He returned to public service as an assistant to the solicitor general at the United States Department of Justice from 2007 until 2010, where he contributed to the government’s appellate advocacy before the nation’s highest courts.

Parallel to his practice work, Heytens cultivated a career in legal education. In 2005 he served as a visiting assistant professor at Cornell Law School. He subsequently joined the faculty of the University of Virginia School of Law, first as an associate professor from 2006 to 2007 and again from 2010 to 2014. In 2014 he was promoted to full professor of law, a position he held through 2021. Throughout his academic tenure, Heytens taught courses in constitutional law, appellate advocacy, and federal courts, and published scholarship on topics ranging from the structure of the judiciary to the role of the solicitor general.

Heytens entered state-level public service when Governor Ralph Northam’s administration appointed him as Virginia’s solicitor general on January 9, 2018. In that capacity he represented the Commonwealth before appellate courts, including the United States Supreme Court, and worked under Attorney General Mark Herring. He remained in the role until his nomination to the federal bench in 2021.

Federal appellate service

In early 2021 Heytens emerged as a potential nominee for an opening on the Fourth Circuit, which covers Maryland, Virginia, West Virginia, North Carolina, and South Carolina. President Joseph R. Biden announced his intent to nominate Heytens on June 30, 2021, and formally transmitted the nomination to the Senate on July 13, 2021. The vacancy arose from Judge Barbara Milano Keenan’s transition to senior status effective August 31, 2021.

The Senate Judiciary Committee conducted a confirmation hearing on Heytens’s qualifications on July 28, 2021. Following deliberations, the committee reported his nomination favorably on September 23, 2021 by a vote of fourteen to eight. The full Senate invoked cloture on his nomination on October 28, 2021 with a 51‑31 vote, and subsequently confirmed him on November 1, 2021 by a margin of 53‑43. Heytens received his judicial commission the next day, November 2, 2021, and was sworn into office on November 4, 2021 by Chief Judge Roger Gregory.

Since joining the Fourth Circuit, Heytens has participated in panels addressing a broad spectrum of federal issues, ranging from civil rights to administrative law. His service as an active circuit judge involves hearing appeals from district courts within the circuit’s jurisdiction, contributing to written opinions that shape the interpretation of statutes and constitutional provisions, and collaborating with fellow judges on en banc considerations when necessary.

Jurisprudence and legacy

Although Judge Heytens has served on the Fourth Circuit for a relatively brief period, his professional background informs his approach to appellate adjudication. His early clerkships under both a federal appellate chief judge and a Supreme Court justice provided direct exposure to high‑level judicial reasoning and the mechanics of opinion drafting. The experience gained as a Bristow Fellow in the Solicitor General’s Office further acquainted him with the standards of advocacy before the nation’s highest court, an insight that is valuable when reviewing government positions in appellate cases.

Heytens’s tenure at the Department of Justice as an assistant to the solicitor general reinforced his familiarity with federal statutory interpretation and constitutional analysis from the perspective of the executive branch. This experience complements his later role as Virginia’s solicitor general, where he defended state interests before appellate tribunals and contributed to the development of state‑level legal strategy.

In academia, Heytens spent over a decade teaching future lawyers at the University of Virginia School of Law. His scholarship addressed structural aspects of the judiciary, including discussions on the function of the solicitor general’s office and the balance between federal and state authority. By integrating practical appellate experience with theoretical inquiry, his academic work has contributed to ongoing dialogues within legal education about the role of courts in a democratic society.

As a member of the Fourth Circuit, Judge Heytens participates in decisions that affect millions of residents across five states. The circuit’s jurisprudence often tackles issues such as voting rights, environmental regulation, and civil liberties—areas where his combined experience in government advocacy, private practice, and scholarly analysis can provide nuanced perspectives. While specific opinions authored by him are still emerging, his background suggests a methodical approach grounded in precedent and attentive to the practical implications of judicial rulings.

Judge Heytens’s career trajectory—from clerkships at the appellate and Supreme Court levels, through service in both federal and state solicitor general offices, to a faculty position shaping legal minds—exemplifies a blend of practice and theory that is characteristic of many contemporary federal judges. His appointment by a Democratic president reflects the administration’s confidence in his qualifications, yet his role as an independent arbiter requires adherence to the rule of law irrespective of partisan considerations.

In sum, Toby Jay Heytens brings to the Fourth Circuit a comprehensive portfolio of appellate experience, governmental service, and academic scholarship. As he continues to adjudicate cases and contribute to the development of federal jurisprudence, his influence will be measured by the quality and durability of the opinions he helps craft, as well as by the mentorship he provides to clerks and younger attorneys navigating the complexities of the United States legal system.