The Hon. Jamilah D. LeCruise is a judge for the 4th Judicial District Court of Virginia. She was elected to the bench by the Virginia General Assembly in 2022.
The 4th Judicial District encompasses the City of Norfolk.
Prior to her election, LeCruise was a sole practitioner in her own private practice in Norfolk, a law firm she opened in 2015. She represented clients in criminal defense matters, supplementing her practice with traffic, expungement, and divorce cases.
LeCruise earned a bachelor’s degree in political science and rhetoric and communication studies from the University of Richmond in 2008. She then completed a J.D. at William & Mary Law School in 2011. As a law student, she interned at the Legal Aid Society of Eastern Virginia in Williamsburg, where she specialized in family law matters. She also interned at the Office of the Capital Defender in Richmond.
After graduating from law school, LeCruise began her legal career as a magistrate attorney for the Office of Executive Secretary of the Supreme Court of Virginia. She worked in that capacity until 2012, at which time she joined the Virginia Indigent Defense Commission.
Her memberships have included the Norfolk & Portsmouth Bar Association, the South Hampton Roads Bar Association, the Virginia Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers, and the Downtown Norfolk Council. She has also been involved with the Virginia State Board of Elections, the City of Norfolk Board of Zoning Appeals, the Board of Directors of the Legal Aid Society of Eastern Virginia, and the Corporate Board of Directors of the Boys & Girls Clubs of Southeast Virginia.
She is a recipient of the Walter E. Hoffman Community Service Award from the Norfolk & Portsmouth Bar Association, the Young Lawyer of the Year Award from the South Hampton Roads Bar Association, and the Significant Service Award from the Virginia State Bar Young Lawyers Conference.