Background
Robert H Whaley is the son of William Whaley, an Federal Bureau of Investigation agent during World World War II and Carolyn Knox Whaley.
Robert H Whaley is the son of William Whaley, an Federal Bureau of Investigation agent during World World War II and Carolyn Knox Whaley.
Princeton University (Bachelor of Arts, 1965). Emory University (Juris Doctor, 1968). Trial Attorney, Land and Natural Resources Division, Department of Justice, Washington, District of Columbia, 1969-1971.
Assistant United States Attorney, Eastern District of Washington, 1971-1972.
Member, Board of Governors, Washington State Bar Examiners, 1976-1979.
Born in Huntington, West Virginia, Whaley received a Bachelor of Arts from Princeton University in 1965, and a Juris Doctor from Emory University School of Law in 1968. Whaley was in the United States Marine Corps in 1968, and in private practice of law in Georgia from 1968 to 1969. He became a trial attorney for the Land and Natural Resources Division of the United States Department of Justice from 1969 to 1971, and then an assistant United States Attorney for the of Eastern District of Washington until 1972.
He returned to private practice in Spokane, Washington from 1972 to 1992.
Whaley also tried a case in front of the Supreme Court of the United States, Texaco Incorporated. v. Hasbrouck. The case was decided on June 14, 1990.
Whaley was a judge on the Superior Court of Spokane County, Washington from 1992 to 1995. On May 24, 1995, President Bill Clinton nominated Whaley to a seat on the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Washington vacated by Justin L. Quackenbush.
Whaley was confirmed by the United States Senate on June 30, 1995, and received his commission the same day.
He became chief judge of the District in 2005. He assumed senior status on July 12, 2009.
State Bar of Georgia. Washington State Trial Lawyers Association (President, 1981-1982). Fellow, American College of Trial Lawyers.