 Davis began his career as a member of the U.S. Army Judge Advocate General's Corps where he served as trial counsel in the Republic of Korea and as government appellate counsel in Washington D.C. from 1964 to 1967.In 1967 he returned to Kansas to engage in private practice in Leavenworth which he continued until 1984.Davis' first judicial post was as a magistrate judge in Leavenworth County from 1969 to 1976.