He served as chief judge from 2006 to 2013 and was a former nominee to the United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit[5] to take the place of the retired James Dickson Phillips Jr.[6][7] He previously served as a member of the executive committee of the Judicial Conference of the United States from 2016 to 2020.
He received Clemson's coveted “Norris Medal” as the outstanding undergraduate student, as well as being awarded the Atlantic Coast Conference’s “Jim Weaver” Postgraduate Scholarship as the ACC's top all-around student-athlete regardless of which sport.
[14][15] Both were part of a Benet Academy High School basketball home court winning streak of over 100 consecutive games.
[28] Conrad served as an assistant United States attorney for the Western District of North Carolina from 1989 to 2001.
[32] In pleading guilty, Riady on behalf of Lippo Bank agreed to pay $8.6 million, “the largest fine ever imposed for violation of the campaign finance laws.
[33] He formally recommended that an independent counsel be named to investigate then Vice President Al Gore for perjury.
Conrad's office was instrumental in prosecuting supporters of the Hezbollah terrorist cell in North Carolina.
[41] Conrad was elected by his peers and appointed by Chief Justice Roberts to a position on the Judicial Conference of the United States.
[46] On January 23, 2024, Chief Justice John Roberts named Conrad as the next director of the Administrative Office of the United States Courts, succeeding Judge Roslynn R. Mauskopf, effective March 1, 2024.
[48] In the second trial MS-13 gang member Alejandro Enrique Ramirez Umaña was charged with murder after he allegedly killed two brothers who “disrespected” him in a restaurant.
[49] In September 2010, Conrad sat by designation on a panel of the Fourth Circuit that heard the appeal of Derek Tice, one of the “Norfolk Four” who had been convicted for a 1997 rape and murder.
[51] In July 2011 Conrad presided over a trial involving a lawsuit against TASER International Inc. for the wrongful death of a minor.
[52] Judge Conrad reduced the amount to $5.49 million in light of the “relatively thin” evidence and prior settlements in the case.
However, the Fourth Circuit determined that the amount needed to be reduced even further because the Plaintiff had not sufficiently proven specific damages.
[58] On July 17, 2007, Conrad was nominated by President George W. Bush to a seat on the United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit vacated by Judge James Dickson Phillips Jr. in 1994.
He also wrote that "Planned Parenthood knowingly kills unborn babies, not fetuses, as a method of post conception contraception."
Additionally, he claimed that Planned Parenthood had done nothing to reduce teen pregnancy rates and should not receive funding for its contraception services.
[61][62] Separately, People for the American Way argued that Conrad's short tenure on the district court had not served to put to rest the concerns raised by his pre-judicial record.
To the contrary, this activist group stated that he "'consistently ruled against plaintiffs alleging employment discrimination,' he appear[ed] hostile to the rights of criminal defendants, and, sitting by designation on the Fourth Circuit, he joined an anti-environmental ruling overturning a district court decision that the Army Corps of Engineers had violated the Clean Water Act in approving a permit for the discharge of material from mountain-top mining.
"[63] Supporters of Conrad responded by citing his life-long commitment to public service, the support of both home state Senators, his well-qualified ABA rating, and the fact that the Senate had unanimously confirmed him twice before (as U.S. Attorney and United States District Court Judge) as evidence to belie any concerns mounted by these opposition groups.
Brian Mack, a former member of a violent gang, testified at Conrad's judicial investiture: “from the day I was released from prison, he contacted me to make sure that I stayed in the right path.
[78] In Conrad's account, “[More and Fisher] were not adamantine followers of self-will but servants of the one true God who spoke through his Word and his Church.