United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit

• Court
• Judges

Third Circuit Court of Appeals Chief: Theodore McKee Judges: 14 Posts: 14 Vacancies: 0 Active judges Ambro • Chagares • Fisher • Fuentes • Greenaway • Hardiman • Jordan • Rendell • Scirica • Shwartz • Sloviter • Smith • Vanskie Senior Judges Aldisert • Barry • Cowen • Garth • Greenberg • Nygaard • Roth • Stapleton • Van Antwerpen • Weis Former Judges

Key: (Numbers indicate % of seats vacant.) 0% 0%-10% 10%-25% 25%-40% More than 40%

The United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit is one of the thirteen federal appellate courts. The court was established in 1891 and currently has a total of fourteen seats. The Third Circuit shares the James A. Byrne Federal Courthouse with the Eastern District of Pennsylvania.

Vacancy warning level

The current vacancy warning level for the Third Circuit is set at green. All of the current posts are filled with active judges.

Jurisdiction

Map of the Third Circuit. Click on a district to find out more about it.

The United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit has appellate jurisdiction over the United States district court for the following United States federal judicial districts:

• District of Delaware
• District of New Jersey
• Eastern District of Pennsylvania
• Middle District of Pennsylvania
• Western District of Pennsylvania

It also has appellate jurisdiction over the United States District Court for the U.S. Virgin Islands which, in spite of the name, is a territorial court and belongs to no federal judicial district.

The court is based in Philadelphia.

Cases heard

The Third Circuit has appellate jurisdiction over cases heard in one of its subsidiary districts. These cases can include civil and criminal matters that fall under federal law.

Case load

Federal Court Case Load Statistics*

Year	Starting case load:	Cases filed:	Total cases:	Cases terminated:	Remaining cases	Terminations on merits:	Terminations on Procedure	Cross Appeals:	Total Terminations:	Written decisions per Judge**
2010	3400	3951	7351	4235	3116	2483	1684	68	4235	153
2009	3771	3750	7521	3997	3524	2333	1635	29	3997	143
2008	3699	4054	7753	3990	3763	2300	1652	38	3990	149
2007	3837	3924	7761	4066	3695	2251	1770	45	4066	136
2006	3480	4503	7983	4157	3826	2305	1825	27	4157	152

*All statistics are taken from the Official Federal Courts' Website (for District Courts) and reflect the calendar year through September.    **This statistic reflects only judges that are active for the entire 12 month period.

Clerk's office

The official Clerk is Marcia M. Waldron. The Clerk's Office is open for filing Monday-Friday from 9am to 4pm, excluding federal holidays. The contact information for the office is as follows:

OFFICE OF THE CLERK
21400 U.S. COURTHOUSE
601 MARKET STREET
PHILADELPHIA, PA 19106

ecf_helpdesk@ca3.uscourts.gov
Phone: 267-299-4970
Records room: 215-597-2995

History

Court history

This federal judiciary article needs to be expanded.

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The Third Circuit was established by the United States Congress in 1981 through the same statute that established the first nine appeals circuits. Over the years, twelve additional seats were added to the court resulting in a total of fourteen seats.

Judicial posts

The following table highlights the development of judicial posts for the Third Circuit:

Year	Statute	Total Seats
March 3, 1891	26 Stat. 826	2
February 23, 1899	30 Stat. 846	3
June 10, 1930	46 Stat. 538	4
June 24, 1936	49 Stat. 1903	5
December 7, 1944	58 Stat. 796	6
August 3, 1949	63 Stat. 493	7
May 19, 1961	75 Stat. 80	8
June 18, 1968	82 Stat. 184	9
October 20, 1978	92 Stat. 1629	10
July 10, 1984	98 Stat. 333	12
December 1, 1990	104 Stat. 5089	14

Notable cases

This page is missing notable case information.

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For a search-able list of decisions from the Third Circuit, please see: Third Circuit Searchable Opinions

• Lee v. Minner

Federal courthouse

This federal judiciary article needs to be expanded.

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The Third Circuit shares the James A. Byrne Federal Courthouse with the Eastern District of Pennsylvania.

See also

• United States court of appeals

External links

• Official Website of the Third Circuit Court of Appeals
• List of Third Circuit Judges
• Opinions of the Third Circuit
• FoxNews.com, "Second court invalidates Obama appointments to labor board," May 16, 2013

References

Third Circuit Court of Appeals Chief: Theodore McKee Judges: 14 Posts: 14 Vacancies: 0 Active judges Ambro • Chagares • Fisher • Fuentes • Greenaway • Hardiman • Jordan • Rendell • Scirica • Shwartz • Sloviter • Smith • Vanskie Senior Judges Aldisert • Barry • Cowen • Garth • Greenberg • Nygaard • Roth • Stapleton • Van Antwerpen • Weis Former Judges

Key: (Numbers indicate % of seats vacant.) 0% 0%-10% 10%-25% 25%-40% More than 40%

Number of allowed judges

Active judges

Article III judges

See: Article III federal judge
The United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit has 14 posts and 0 vacancies. The current Chief Justice is Theodore McKee. This is a list of the current judges on the court:

Judge	Born	Home	Appointed by	Active	Chief	Preceeded	Bachelors	Law
Judge Joseph Greenaway		England	Obama	2/9/2010 - Present		Samuel Alito	Columbia '78	Harvard Law '81
Judge Patty Shwartz	1961	Paterson, NJ	Obama	4/9/2013 - Present		Maryanne Barry	Rutgers College, B.A., 1983	U. of Pennsylvania Law, J.D., 1986
Judge Thomas Vanaskie	1953	Shamokin, PA	Obama	4/21/2010 - Present		Franklin Van Antwerpen	Lycoming College '75	Dickinson School of Law '78
Judge Anthony Scirica	1940	Norristown, PA	Reagan	8/6/1987 - Present	2003-2010	Ruggero Aldisert	Wesleyan U. '62	U. of Michigan Law '65
Judge Dolores Sloviter	1932	Philadelphia, PA	Carter	6/21/1979 - Present	1991-1998	Walter Stapleton	Temple U. '53	U. Pennsylvania Law '56
Chief Judge Theodore McKee	1947		Clinton	6/9/1994 - Present	2010 - Present	Leon Higginbotham, Jr.	SUNY Cortland '69	Syracuse Law '75
Judge Marjorie Rendell	1947	Wilmington, DE	Clinton	9/29/1997 - Present		William Hutchinson	U. of Pennsylvania '69	Villanova U. '73
Judge Thomas Ambro	1949	Cambridge, OH	Clinton	2/16/2000 - Present		Walter Stapleton	Georgetown '71	Georgetown Law '75
Judge Julio Fuentes	1946	Humacao, PR	Clinton	3/9/2000 - Present		Robert Cowen	Southern Illinois U. '71	SUNY Buffalo Law '75
Judge Brooks Smith	1951	Altoona, PA	W. Bush	8/2/2002 - Present		Timothy Lewis	Franklin and Marshall College '73	Dickinson School of Law '76
Judge Michael Fisher	1944	Pittsburgh, PA	W. Bush	12/11/2003 - Present		Carol Mansmann	Georgetown '66	Georgetown Law '69
Judge Michael Chagares	1962		W. Bush	4/20/2006 - Present		Michael Chertoff	Gettysburg College '84	Seton Hall Law '87
Judge Kent Jordan	1957	West Point, NY	W. Bush	12/13/2006 - Present		Jane Roth	Brigham Young U. '81	Georgetown Law '84
Judge Thomas Hardiman	1965	Winchester, MA	W. Bush	4/2/2007 - Present		Richard Nygaard	Notre Dame '87	Georgetown Law '90

Pending appointments

There are no current pending appointments for the United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit.

Senior judges

See: Federal judges on senior status
The United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit has 10 judges on senior status currently. This is a list of the current senior judges on the court:

Judge	Appointed by	Active	Chief	Senior	Bachelors	Law
Senior Judge Leonard Garth	Nixon	8/6/1973 - 6/30/1986		6/30/1986 - Present	Columbia U. '42	Harvard Law '52
Senior Judge Joseph Weis	L.B. Johnson	4/15/1973 - 4/1/1988		4/1/1988 - Present	Duquesne U. '47	U. of Pittsburgh Law '50
Senior Judge Walter Stapleton	Reagan	4/4/1985 - 6/2/1999		6/2/1999 - Present	Princeton '56	Harvard Law '59
Senior Judge Morton Greenberg	Reagan	3/23/1987 - 6/30/2000		6/30/2000 - Present	U. of Pennsylvania '54	Yale Law '57
Senior Judge Robert Cowen	Reagan	11/9/1987 - 9/4/1998		9/4/1998 - Present	Drake U. '52	Rutgers U. Law '58
Senior Judge Jane Roth	H.W. Bush	7/2/1991 - 5/31/2006		5/31/2006 - Present	Smith College '56	Harvard Law '65
Senior Judge Franklin Van Antwerpen	W. Bush	5/24/2004 - 10/23/2006		10/23/2006 - Present	U. of Maine '64	Temple U. Law '67
Senior Judge Richard Nygaard	Reagan	10/17/1988 - 7/9/2005		7/9/2005 - Present	U. of Southern California '69	U. of Michigan Law '71
Senior Judge Ruggero Aldisert	L.B. Johnson	7/29/1968 - 12/31/1986	1984-1986	12/31/1986 - Present	U. of Pittsburgh '41	U. of Pittsburgh Law '47
Senior judge Maryanne Barry	Clinton	9/22/1999 - 6/30/2011		6/30/2011 - Present	Mount Holyoke College '62	Hofstra U. Law '74

Past judges

Former chief judges

Judge	Term
Austin Staley	1966-1967
Collins Seitz	1971-1984
William Hastie	1968-1971
John Gibbons	1987-1990
Aloysius Higginbotham	1990 - 1991
Edward Becker	1998-2003
John Biggs	1948-1965
Harry Kalodner	1965-1966
Dolores Sloviter	1991-1998
Ruggero Aldisert	1984-1986
Anthony Scirica	2003-2010

In order to qualify for the office of Chief Judge in one of the federal courts, a judge must have been in active service on the court for at least one year, be under the age of 65, and have not previously served as Chief Judge. A vacancy in the office of Chief Judge is filled by the judge highest in seniority among the group of qualified judges. The Chief Judge serves for a term of seven years or until age 70, whichever occurs first. The age restrictions are waived if no members of the court would otherwise be qualified for the position. Unlike the Chief Justice of the United States, a Chief Judge returns to active service after the expiration of his or her term and does not create a vacancy on the bench by the fact of his or her promotion. See 28 U.S.C. § 45.

These rules for Chief Judges in the federal judiciary have been in effect since October 1, 1982. The office of Chief Judge was created in 1948. Until August 6, 1959, the position was filled in each federal court by the longest-serving judge who had not elected to retire on what has since 1958 been known as senior status or declined to serve as Chief Judge. From then until 1982 it was filled by the senior such judge who had not turned 70.

Former judges

1. Samuel Alito
2. Marcus Wilson Acheson
3. Joseph Buffington
4. George Mifflin Dallas
5. Timothy Lewis
6. Lee Sarokin
7. James Hunter
8. James Rosen
9. Michael Chertoff
10. Robert Wodrow Archbald
11. George Gray
12. John Bayard McPherson
13. William Mershon Lanning
14. Joseph Whitaker Thompson
15. John Warren Davis
16. Thomas Griffith Haight
17. Victor Baynard Woolley
18. William Clark
19. Harry Kalodner
20. Phillip Forman
21. Albert Maris
22. John Biggs
23. Francis Biddle
24. William Francis Smith
25. Edward Becker
26. Abraham Freedman
27. James Ganey
28. Francis Van Dusen
29. Aloysius Higginbotham
30. Carol Mansmann
31. Herbert Goodrich
32. Arlin Adams
33. John Gibbons
34. William Hastie
35. William Hutchinson
36. Charles Alvin Jones
37. Gerald McLaughlin
38. John O'Connell
39. Max Rosenn
40. Collins Seitz
41. David Stahl
42. Austin Staley