The United States District Court and the United States Bankruptcy Court for the Western District of Virginia take great pleasure in announcing that Paul Markham Black has been designated by the United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit, subject to satisfactory completion of standard background checks, to succeed William F. Stone, Jr. as United States Bankruptcy Judge for the Western District of Virginia at Roanoke, Virginia. Mr. Black, a native of Roanoke who graduated from Northside High School, received his undergraduate degree from Washington and Lee University in 1982 and his law degree from the T. C. Williams School of Law of the University of Richmond in 1985. He then served as law clerk to the Honorable Blackwell N. Shelley, United States Bankruptcy Judge for the Eastern District of Virginia at Richmond. After practicing law in Richmond for several years with the firm of Mays & Valentine, he returned to Roanoke in 1991 to join the law firm of Melchionna, Day, Ammar & Black, P.C. Since then his practice has involved representation of clients in the United States District Court and United States Bankruptcy Court in the Eastern and Western Districts of Virginia as well as numerous Virginia state courts. Currently, Mr. Black is a member of the firm of Spilman Thomas & Battle, PLLC in Roanoke, where he is co-chair of the firm's bankruptcy and creditor's rights practice group. Since 2007, he has served as a member of the Virginia State Bar Disciplinary Board. Mr. Black lives in Roanoke, Virginia with his wife and they have three daughters. The term of the appointment will be for fourteen years, and Mr. Black is expected to take the bench during the latter part of this year or the beginning of 2014.