Edmund Pendleton rose from legal apprenticeship to become a leading Virginia lawyer, revolutionary administrator, and appellate judge. Admitted to practice in 1741, he built a substantial career in county courts and at Williamsburg. He represented Caroline County in the House of Burgesses from 1752 and developed a reputation for legal reasoning and skill in debate.

During the imperial crisis, Pendleton supported colonial resistance while seeking orderly action through representative institutions. He served in the Continental Congress in 1774 and 1775 and presided over Virginia's Committee of Safety, which exercised executive authority as royal government collapsed. He also chaired the fourth and fifth Revolutionary Conventions. The latter directed Virginia's delegates to seek American independence and adopted a declaration of rights and state constitution in 1776.

Pendleton became the first speaker of the new House of Delegates and participated with Thomas Jefferson and George Wythe in the effort to revise Virginia's laws. Appointed to the High Court of Chancery, he became presiding judge of the Court of Appeals when it was organized in 1779. He retained leadership after the court became a separate institution in 1789. His judicial service extended across the early republic and helped establish the practices of Virginia's highest court.

In 1788 he presided over Virginia's ratifying convention and supported the federal Constitution, working against strong opposition led by Patrick Henry and George Mason. His argument favored a stronger union while acknowledging the need for safeguards and amendments. Pendleton advised and corresponded despite injuries restricting his mobility. He died in 1803 while still serving on the court. He combined revolutionary change with institutional continuity and legal procedure. He helped protect representative rights while retaining slavery and a restricted franchise within the planter society in which he held land and influence.