Atchley began his career as a staff attorney with Family Inns of America, before working as an associate with Scott & Associates. From 1994 to 2001, Atchley served as an assistant district attorney general for Tennessee. He became an assistant United States attorney for the Eastern District of Tennessee in 2001 and served in the Criminal Division, supervising the General Crimes and National Security Section. From 2018 to 2020, Atchley was the first assistant United States attorney for the Eastern District of Tennessee.[2] He left the Department of Justice after being appointed to the bench.
Prominent cases
In 2005, Atchley was the lead prosecutor in the case of Lester Eugene Siler, a suspected drug dealer who was tortured by five Campbell County police officers. He won convictions and the officers received sentences of four to six years.
In 2017, he was the lead prosecutor in the case of Szuhsiung Ho, who was accused of trying to recruit American nuclear experts to spy on American nuclear facilities, resulting in a 2017 plea bargain in which Ho was sentenced to two years in prison.[3]
In July 2022, he temporarily barred the Biden administration's Title IX guidance that interpreted Title IX's protections as extending to trans people in 20 states, claiming they infringe on state rights.[10]