An Interview with Bryant L. Sugg (part one)

"Rather than thinking of it, of any of this starting with me, it always, to me, goes back to my father... When he said he wanted to go to law school, they told him he was crazy. Because he is in the 50s. Before even the civil rights movement and all that, when I was a baby... [T]hrough my father, myself, and my nephew, we're the only three generations of African American legacy judges, period, the end. It just hasn't happened in the history of the country, from what I've been told... I always, like I said, I look to my father as the one who started that, based on his dream and him not accepting that he wasn't going to be able to make it. And he did." -- Bryant Sugg ------------------------------------ In this oral history, dated March 19, 2025, the Honorable Judge Bryant L. Sugg gives us an overview of his life, time at William & Mary Law School, and decades-long career as a Virginia judge. We begin with a discussion about his upbringing and how his father, the late Honorable Irvin Douglas Sugg, Sr., influenced his career path. From the law school, Judge Sugg shares stories about playing flag football with professors, memories of getting cold-called in class, and his reputation as a “lobby lizard.” From there, he discusses his “friendly rivalry” with his nephew, the Honorable David J. Whitted, and the legacy Judge Sugg started at the law school, with three generations of his family attending.