Judge William Reilly Marchant, (Ret.),

also known as Ry, retired from the Circuit Court for the city of Richmond in July 2024, after having served for 9 1/2 years. He served as Chief Judge for the last four years of his term and presided over the Richmond Adult Drug Court for 9 years. Judge Marchant’s docket included a variety of civil, criminal and family law cases. 

After graduating from the University of Richmond Law School, he practiced law for over thirty years in the Richmond metro area, with an active general civil litigation practice, including personal injury, employment, corporate and family law matters. Before being appointed to the Circuit Court, he served as a substitute Judge in the city of Richmond for twenty-five years. He was very active with the Richmond Bar Association and served as its President from 2008-2009.

Judge Marchant presided over many high-profile cases, including the removal of the Robert E. Lee statue on Monument Avenue in Richmond in 2020; the double homicide associated with the Huguenot High School graduation in 2024; and state legislative redistricting challenges in 2017, as well as a number of other significant civil and criminal matters.

He also developed several commercial real estate projects in the city, including the former Six Burner restaurant (which received a four-star review from the Richmond Times-Dispatch in 2010) and Pasture restaurant, which “helped usher in a new wave of redevelopment and dining along East Grace Street and in general in the downtown Richmond area” (Richmond Times-Dispatch, June 11, 2019).