WASHINGTON (AP) -- The U.S. Senate has unanimously confirmed Portsmouth Chief Judge Mark Davis to a federal District Court judgeship in Alexandria.

Davis has served as chief of the Portsmouth Circuit Court since July 2006. Tuesday's confirmation of the 46-year-old judge is a lifetime appointment.

Davis graduated from the University of Virginia in 1984 and worked in Senator John Warner's Washington office. Warner, a Republican, and Democratic Senator Jim Webb recommended Davis for the judgeship.

Davis received a law degree from Washington and Lee University in 1988. In the 1990s he worked as a lawyer for RMS Titanic Incorporated, the firm that salvaged thousands of artifacts from the wreck of the ill-fated cruise ship and is still fighting in court for compensation.

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