Education
Georgetown University. Georgetown University Law Center. Columbia University; Edmund A. Walsh School of Foreign Service.
Georgetown University. Georgetown University Law Center. Columbia University; Edmund A. Walsh School of Foreign Service.
Born in Verona, North Dakota in 1927, Magill served in the United States Navy Seaman from 1945 to 1947. He received a Bachelor of Science in Foreign Service from Georgetown University School of Foreign Service in 1951, an Master of Arts from Columbia University in 1953, and an Bachelor of Laws from Georgetown University Law Center in 1955. He then worked in private law practice in Fargo, North Dakota until 1986.
On January 21, 1986, Magill was nominated by President Ronald Reagan to a seat on the United States Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit vacated by Myron H. Bright.
Magill was confirmed by the United States Senate on March 3, 1986, and received his commission on March 4, 1986. Magill assumed senior status on April 1, 1997.
Magill"s daughter, M. Elizabeth Magill was a law professor at the University of Virginia School of Law until 2012. Currently, she is the dean of Stanford Law School.
Magill"s son, Francis J. Magill, Junior., is a Minnesota District Court Judge.