Born 1961 in Norfolk, Virginia.

Appointed by Governor Mark R. Warner on September 5, 2002 to fill the vacancy created by the retirement of Richard S. Bray. First elected by the General Assembly on January 14, 2003 to an eight-year term beginning February 1, 2003. Service terminated by election as justice of the Supreme Court of Virginia.

Education:
Old Dominion University, B.A., 1982
College of William and Mary, J.D., 1985

Other judicial service:
Law clerk to Chief Judge John A. MacKenzie, U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia, 1985-1986.
Judge, Fifth Judicial Circuit of Virginia, 2000-2002.
Justice, Supreme Court of Virginia, 2015-present.

Professional career:
Private practice in Norfolk, Virginia, 1986-2000.
Adjunct professor, College of William and Mary, Marshall-Wythe School of Law, 2010-present.
Adjunct professor, Regent University School of Law, 2010-present.

Supreme Court of Virginia portrait

Sources:
Appointed to the Court of Appeals, Paul Fletcher, “Judge Kelsey is Tapped for Appeals Court,” Virginia Lawyers Weekly, September 9, 2002; began serving on the Court of Appeals on September 5, 2002, 38 Va.App., V; first elected to an eight-year term on the Court of Appeals, Journals of the Senate of Virginia, 2003 Regular Session, 209; elected circuit court judge, Journal of the Senate of Virginia 2000 Regular Session, 1747; elected justice of the Supreme Court of Virginia, HJ 687 summary, retrieved from Virginia Legislative Information Service on January 22, 2015; see also, Peter Vieth, “Kelsey named to Supreme Court,” Virginia Lawyers Weekly, January 20, 2015; biography, Martindale-Hubbell Law Directory, 2000, VA326B, and The American Bench: Judges of the Nation, 2002-2003 (Forster-Long, Inc.), 2551.