Robert S. Ballou has served as a district judge for the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Virginia since March 2023. Ballou earned a B.A. from the University of Virginia in American government and economics in 1984 and graduated from the University of Virginia School of Law in 1987. Following law school, Ballou clerked for Judge Peter H. Beer of the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Louisiana and then practiced for three years with Christian, Barton, Epps, Brent & Chappell in Richmond, Virginia. In January 1992, Ballou returned to his hometown of Roanoke to join Johnson, Ayers & Matthews, where he had a trial practice focused on insurance defense, construction and commercial litigation. Ballou served as a magistrate judge for the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Virginia from October 2011 until March 2023.