The United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit has appointed Eric D. Placke as the next Federal Public Defender for the Middle District of North Carolina.
Eric has been an Assistant Federal Public Defender for the Middle District of North Carolina since 1993 and was named First Assistant in 2014. He was a supervising attorney for the Litigation Clinic at Wake Forest University School of Law for 25 years, and an adjunct professor in trial practice at Elon University School of Law for five years.
Eric has lectured at Federal Defender programs in North and South Carolina, the Federal Bar Association, the National Defense Investigator Association, and Wake Forest Law School.
Eric was commissioned in the United States Air Force in 1983, was an active duty judge advocate from 1986 until 1993, and then served in the Air Force Reserve until his retirement in 2010. His military assignments included Assistant Staff Judge Advocate, Circuit Trial Counsel, Instructor at the Air Force Judge Advocate General School, Appellate Government Counsel, Air Staff Counsel at the Pentagon, and Appellate Military Judge on the Air Force Court of Criminal Appeals.