He was educated in public schools, the Suffolk Collegiate Institute and the University of North Carolina, where he graduated in 1885.

In 1890, he was elected superintendent of schools, but resigned on January 1, 1892, to accept the offer of judge of the county court.

He was elected by the Virginia General Assembly in 1902, to the position of judge of the Third Judicial Circuit, beginning his term on February 1, 1904.

On January 17, 1992, West was nominated to the Supreme Court of Appeals to fill the term of Edward W. Saunders, upon the latter's death.

[2] He began his tenue on the Court on February 1, 1922, and served there until his death in 1929 at his home in Waverly, Virginia.