When the Supreme Court overturned longstanding abortion and gun-rights precedent in 2022, then-appellate judge Paul Watford said he was disheartened and later started considering stepping down.

Watford, who left the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit this year to join Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Ronsati, spoke with The National Law Journal about his time on the bench. The Q&A has been edited for length and clarity.