U.S. magistrate judge in Norfolk taking retirement

NORFOLK

After serving 12 years on the bench, U.S. Magistrate Judge F. Bradford Stillman will retire this fall.

Stillman, 65, said Friday that he has no plans for retirement other than to enjoy his family and his soon-to-be first grandchild.

"It is a wonderful court and an exciting place to work," he said. "I have nothing but praise for the court family there."

Federal magistrate judges differ from state magistrates. They handle just about everything a district judge handles except for felony criminal trials. They conduct criminal preliminary hearings and bond hearings, misdemeanor criminal trials, some civil trials and settlement conferences. They often take guilty pleas in criminal cases as well.

Before becoming a magistrate judge in 2000, Stillman perhaps was best known as the lead attorney for the company that fought for and won the exclusive salvage rights to the Titanic shipwreck. The Titanic case has been handled in the Norfolk federal court since 1992 and Stillman could only laugh on Friday when it was pointed out that the Titanic case has outlasted his career; a district judge continues to oversee the case.

Stillman is one of a rare few to actually see the Titanic on the floor of the North Atlantic. He joined a crew that took a submersible vessel two miles deep to explore the wreckage.

"It was a great case," he said.

District judges in the Eastern District of Virginia will select Stillman's replacement from a list of candidates recommended by a committee of lawyers and lay persons. The committee has not yet been formed. Magistrate judges earn $160,080 a year and serve eight-year terms.

Stillman said his last day will be Sept. 30.

"I will miss the lawyers and my colleagues," he said. "The clerks, the case managers, the probation officers, the marshals, the court security officers are just wonderful people and very, very dedicated to what they do."

Tim McGlone, 757-446-2343, tim.mcglone@pilotonline.com