Philip D. Cave

I have extensive experience as a prosecutor, defense counsel, appellate advocate, and legal advisor in military cases. I have served tours of duty in the U.S., Gulf-I, in USS JOHN F. KENNEDY (CV 67), and overseas in Spain, Portugal, and Bahrain. While on active duty I also gained experience as a member of the Navy Clemency & Parole Board, the Joint Service Committee on Military Justice, and in regulatory and legislative matters.

I have provided testimony at both Cox Commissions on military justice, on behalf of the Bar Association of the District of Columbia. I regularly participate as a moot court judge for several national moot court competitions held in the Washington, DC, area.

I am regularly consulted by print, radio, and TV media for commentary on significant military justice cases and issues.

I have been practicing military law exclusively since 1979.

I came to America in 1972, having spent seven years with the Metropolitan Police in London, England.

After graduating from the Case Western Reserve University Law School in 1979, I went to the Naval Justice School; and then I reported to my first assignment at Naval Legal Service Office Norfolk, to be a defense counsel and then a trial counsel (prosecutor).

Over the next 20 years I served as a Navy judge advocate in various military justice related assignments: twice as a defense counsel, twice as a trial counsel (prosecutor), three times as a staff judge advocate (command legal advisor), and as an appeals lawyer. For my last few years of active duty I served in the Navy office responsible Military Justice (legislation, regulation, policy) matters, as well as sitting as a member of the Naval Clemency & Parole Board.

I have broad experience in courts-martial ranging from simple AWOL/UA cases to complicated murder, sex assault, and national security cases. Most of my trial cases are contested members (jury); that is when I have not been able to divert them for trial. Over the years I have tried hundreds of contested cases, and have been involved in thousands of cases from the simple AR 15-6 type investigation to significant adverse administrative actions.

I believe in listening to the client.
I believe in being honest with the client.
I believe in communicating with the client.

Areas of Practice

100% Military Law

Litigation Percentage

90% of Practice Devoted to Trial and Appellate Litigation

Bar Admissions

• Ohio, 1979
• Virginia, 2000
• District of Columbia, 2000
• U.S. Court of Appeals Federal Circuit, 2000
• U.S. Supreme Court, 1992
• U.S. Court of Appeals for the Armed Forces, 1982
• U.S. District Court Eastern District of Virginia, 2000
• U.S. Court of Federal Claims, 2001

Education

• Univ. Galway, The Irish Centre for Human Rights, June 2024
• Case Western Reserve University Law School, J.D. – 1979
• The George Washington University Law School, LL.M., Master of Laws – 1988
• Joint Forces Staff College – National Defense University, 1982
• Wright State University, Dayton, Ohio B.A. – 1976
• Metropolitan Police Training School, London UK- 1968
• Metropolitan Police Cadet Corps, London UK – 1967

Professional Associations and Memberships

• National Institute of Military Justice, Director, 2000 – Present
• Co-Chair, Military Justice Committee, Criminal Justice Section, ABA
• Judge Advocates Association (life mbr)
• Phi Alpha Delta Law Fraternity, International (life mbr)
• American Legion, Post # 24, Alexandria, VA

Past Employment Positions

• Navy-Marine Corps Appellate Defense Division, Deputy Director, 1992 – 1994
• Naval Legal Service Office, Chief Trial Defense Counsel, 1990 – 1991
• Naval Legal Service Office, Trial Counsel (Prosecutor), 1988 – 1990
• Naval Legal Service Office, Trial Defense Counsel, 1980 – 1982
• Metropolitan Police Force, New Scotland Yard, London, England, Police Cadet and then
• Police Constable, 1965 – 1972
• U.S. Navy, Judge Advocate General’s Corps.
• U.S. Forces, Azores, Portugal, Assistant Staff Judge Advocate (Legal Advisor),
• Commander
• The Staff Judge Advocate (Senior Legal Advisor) to, USS JOHN F. KENNEDY (CV-67)
• Naval Logistics Support Force, in support of Operations DESERT SHIELD/ DESERT STORM
• (Gulf I), Staff Judge Advocate to, Commander
• Naval Legal Service Office Detachment, Rota, Spain, Officer-in-Charge
• Judge Advocate General of the Navy, Deputy Director, Criminal Law Division

Testimony and presentations 

• 1998. Presentation, Continuity and Change in Military Justice. NIMJ London Conference (for international military lawyers). 
• 2001. Testimony before the Cox Commission on Military Justice (Cox-I).
• 2009. Testimony before the Cox Commission on Military Justice (Cox-II).
• 2010. Presentation, Mental Health Defenses, The Judge Advocate General’s School of the Army.
• 2013. Testimony before the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights—DoD response to military sexual assaults.
• 2014. Presentation, Sexual Assault in the Military: Fixing a Broken System: Rape and Sexual Assault in the Military, Hastings University Law School.
• 2014. Military Law and Media, Military Editors Reporters Conference.
• 2019. Presentation, Summary Courts-Martial. Seminar in Military Justice, Yale Law School.
• 2021, Presentation, Court-Martial of Retired Military Personnel. Military Law Committee, Texas Bar Association.
• 2021, Presentation, Recommended Changes to the Presidential Executive Order Establishing the Manual for Courts-Martial. DoD Joint Service Committee on Military Justice.
• 2021, presentation, Ethics of Go-Funding and Similar Financing of Court-Martial Defense Counsel. Town Hall, GMJR, to international military lawyers, judges, and advocates.
• Panelist, U.S. Relationship with the International Criminal Court 2023, NIMJ Expert Roundtable.
• 2021. Presentation, Retiree Courts-Martial. NIMJ Symposium jointly with the Georgetown Center on National Security and the Law.
• 2021. Presentation, Military Law for the Not Dumb. Phi Alpha Delta, International (law fraternity).
• February 16, 2022. Presented oral argument in Prosecutor v. Ongwen and the International Criminal Court, The Hague.
• 2022, presentation, Prosecution of military retirees for pre- and post-retirement offenses.  Military Law Committee, VA State Bar.
• Panelist, U.S. Relationship with the International Criminal Court 2023, NIMJ Expert Roundtable.

Publications and editorials

• Bedi, Cave, Chiarini, Dienhelt, Rosenblatt, NIMJ “Comment on OTP Environmental Crimes Policy,” submitted to the Office of the Prosecutor, International Criminal Court.
• Cave, Chiarini, Rosenblatt, Prosecuting Wagner Group War Crimes at the International Criminal Court? A Procedural Perspective. OpinioJuris, 16 February 2024.
• Contributor to, Military Court Rules of the United States: Procedures, Citation, Professional Responsibility, Civility, and Judicial Conduct, 18 – 20^th eds., Fidell, Fissell, & Sullivan, eds.
• Co-author, A Sourcebook for Advising Military Personnel, The Orders Project 2022-23
• 2022, Military Retiree Court-Martial Jurisdiction: Trials and Tribulations, Journal of National Security Law & Policy, Georgetown Law School (co-published with the Syracuse Univ. Institute of Security Policy & Law).
• 2008, Coram Nobis: A Writ Too Far? ABA, Preview of Supreme Court Cases, Paper Chase, ABA.
• 2012, How Public of a Trial: US v. Bradley Manning, JURIST Sidebar, ABA.
• 2012, Mental State May Play Pivotal Role in Afghan Shooting Trial, JURIST, ABA.
• 2012, Wrangling Over Khadr’s Counsel Shows Discretionary Power of Military Judges, JURIST, ABA.
• 2021, Fidell, Fissell, and Cave, Equal Supreme Court Access for Military Personnel: An Overdue Reform. 131 YALE LAW REVIEW FORUM.
• 2021, Retired Servicemembers and Military Justice: Separating Fact from Myth. Naval Institute Proceedings, U.S. Naval Institute.
• 2021, Congress, not the courts, say who has authority to court-martial servicemembers, The Hill.
• 2021, Cave and Fissell, Can Service Members Fight Taking a Mandatory COVID Vaccine, Military.com.
• 2021, Cave and VanLandingham, How the Military Should Deal with Its Capitol Rioters. The Daily Beast, January 2021.
• 2021, Fidell, Cave, Hillman, Vanlandingham, Military justice reform, “pink courts’ and unit cohesion. The Hill.
• 2022, Philip D. Cave, Don Christensen, Eugene R. Fidell, Brenner M. Fissell, and Dan Maurer, The Division of Authority Between the Special Trial Counsel and Commanders Under the Uniform Code of Military Justice: Planning Now for the Next Phase of Reform. Lawfare, February 28, 2022.
• Executive editor of CAAFlog.org, the only non-government nonprofit blog to inform others about ongoing military law issues.
• Contributor to the Global Military Justice Reform blog, a non-government nonprofit focusing on international military justice issues.