W. Eugene Davis

Eugene Davis

Judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit
In office November 16, 1983 – December 31, 2016
Appointed by	Ronald Reagan
Preceded by	Robert Ainsworth
Succeeded by	vacant
Judge of the United States District Court for the Western District of Louisiana
In office September 21, 1976 – November 16, 1983
Appointed by	Gerald Ford
Preceded by	Richard Putnam
Succeeded by	John Duhé
Personal details
Born	August 1936 (age 80) Winfield, Alabama, U.S.
Political party	Republican
Education	Samford University (BA) Tulane University (JD)

William Eugene Davis, known as W. Eugene Davis (born August 1936), is a Senior Court of Appeals Judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit. His chambers are in Lafayette, Louisiana.

Born in Winfield in Marion County in northwestern Alabama, Davis attended Samford University in Homewood, a suburb of Birmingham, Alabama. After three years at Samford, he received a scholarship to Tulane University Law School in New Orleans. There he received his J.D. in 1960 without having received an undergraduate degree (Samford awarded him a bachelor's degree in 2006). While at Tulane, Davis was a member of the Board of Editors of the Tulane Law Review.

He was in private practice in New Orleans from 1960–64, and then joined a law firm in New Iberia, where his partners were until 1976 Pat Caffery and John Malcolm Duhé, Jr. In his private practice, he frequently represented the oil and gas industries.

On August 5, 1976, Davis was nominated by President Gerald R. Ford, Jr., to a seat on the United States District Court for the Western District of Louisiana vacated by Richard J. Putnam. Davis was confirmed by the United States Senate on September 17, 1976, and received his commission on September 21, 1976.