In 1788, the Court of Appeals was reorganized and the judges, reduced to five in number, were to be elected by a joint ballot of both Houses of Assembly.

The first five, elected on December 24, 1788, were Edmund Pendleton, John Blair Jr., Peter Lyons, Paul Carrington and William Fleming.

This left Peter Lyons the second ranking member of the Virginia Court of Appeals, which he presided over in the absence of Pendleton.

When Pendleton died in 1803, Lyons succeeded him as president, running a court with just three of the original five justices.

[1] Lyons maintained the position of president and chief justice until his death six years later in Hanover County on July 30, 1809.