Third Circuit
Court of Appeals
Judgeships
Posts: 14
Judges: 14
Vacancies: 0
Judges
Chief:Michael Chagares
Active judges:Stephanos Bibas,Emil Bove,Michael Chagares,Cindy Chung,Arianna Freeman,Thomas Hardiman,Cheryl Ann Krause,Jennifer Mascott,Paul Matey,Tamika Montgomery-Reeves,Peter Phipps,David Porter,Luis Felipe Restrepo,Patty Shwartz Senior judges: Thomas Ambro,Robert Cowen,D. Michael Fisher,Julio Fuentes,Theodore McKee,Richard Nygaard,Marjorie Rendell,Jane Roth,Anthony Scirica,David Brooks Smith,Walter Stapleton

TheUnited States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit is afederal appellate court with appellatejurisdiction. It hears appeals from all of the circuit courts within its jurisdiction and its rulings may be appealed to theSupreme Court of the United States.

Appeals are heard in the James A. Byrne Federal Courthouse inPhiladelphia, Pennsylvania. It shares a courthouse with theUnited States District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania.

One judge of the Third Circuit went on to serve on theSupreme Court of the United States.Samuel Alito was appointed to the Supreme Court in 2006 byGeorge W. Bush (R).

This page contains the following information on the Third Circuit.

• An overview of the court'sjurisdiction
• A list of the court'sactive and senior judges
• A list of the court'scurrent vacancies
• Abrief history of the court
• Case reversal statistics by the Supreme Court of the United States
• Noteworthy cases heard by the court
• A list of the court'sformer judges
• Information aboutU.S. Courts of Appeals
• Where the court islocated

Vacancies

See also:Current federal judicial vacancies

There are no current vacancies on theThird Circuit, out of the court's 14 authorized judicial posts.

Pending nominations

There are no pending nominees for this court.

Active judges

Article III judges

Active Article III judges by appointing political party

Below is a display of the number of active judges by the party of the appointing president. It does not reflect how a judge may rule on specific cases or their own political preferences.

• Democratic appointed: 6
• Republican appointed: 8

Senior judges

Senior status is a classification forfederal judges at all levels who are semi-retired. Senior judges are Article III judges who, having met eligibility through age and service requirements, continue to serve on federal courts while typically hearing a reduced number of cases. Some senior judges, however, elect to retain a full caseload after taking senior status. According to the Administrative Office of U.S. Courts, senior judges "typically handle about 15 percent of the federal courts' workload annually."^[1] The date listed under assumed office in the table below reflects the date that the judge took senior status.

Senior judges by appointing political party

Below is a display of the number of senior judges by the party of the appointing president. It does not reflect how a judge may rule on specific cases or their own political preferences.

• Democratic appointed: 5
• Republican appointed: 7

Former judges

For more information on former judges, seeformer federal judges of the Third Circuit.

Jurisdiction

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

The Third Circuit hasappellate jurisdiction over cases heard in one of its subsidiary districts. These cases can include civil and criminal matters that fall under federal law. Appeals of rulings by theThird Circuit Court of Appeals are petitioned to theSupreme Court of the United States. JusticeSamuel Alito is thecircuit justice for the Third Circuit.

The United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit has appellatejurisdiction over the United States district court in the following 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 theUnited States District Court for the U.S. Virgin Islands which, in spite of the name, is aterritorial court and belongs to no federal judicial district.

Caseloads

This section contains court management statistics dating back to 2010. It was last updated in September 2025. Click[show] below for more information on caseload terms and definitions.

History

Court history

The Third Circuit was established by the United States Congress in 1891 with theEvarts Act of 1891, which established the first nine appeals circuits. Over the years, twelve additional seats were added to the court resulting in a total of fourteen seats.^[2]

Judicial posts

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

^[2]

Reversal rate

See also:SCOTUS case reversal rates (2007 - Present)

Since 2007, SCOTUS has released opinions in1,313 cases. Of those, it reversed a lower court decision938 times (71.4 percent) while affirming a lower court decision363 times (27.6 percent).

In that time period, SCOTUS has decided57 cases originating from the Third Circuit, affirming in 18 cases and reversing in 39 cases, for a reversal rate of68.4 percent. As of the end of the2023 term, of the Article III circuits—the ordinal circuits, the D.C. Circuit, and the Federal Circuit—the court with the lowest rate of overturned decisions is theFourth Circuit at 62.1 percent.

Noteworthy cases

The following are noteworthy cases heard before this court. To suggest cases we should cover here,email us. To read opinions published by this court, clickhere.

Before the U.S. Supreme Court

This section focuses on cases the U.S. Supreme Court heard that originated in this court. To suggest cases we should cover here,email us.

2025-2026 term

See also:Supreme Court cases, October term 2025-2026

The following cases were scheduled for argument before the U.S. Supreme Court during the 2025-2026 term.

2024-2025 term

See also:Supreme Court cases, October term 2024-2025

The following cases were heard for argument before the U.S. Supreme Court during the 2024-2025 term.

2023-2024 term

See also:Supreme Court cases, October term 2023-2024

The following cases were heard for argument before the U.S. Supreme Court during the 2023-2024 term.

2022-2023 term

See also:Supreme Court cases, October term 2022-2023

The following cases were heard for argument before the U.S. Supreme Court during the 2022-2023 term.

2021-2022 term

See also:Supreme Court cases, October term 2021-2022

The following cases were heard before the U.S. Supreme Court during the 2021-2022 term.

2020-2021 term

See also:Supreme Court cases, October term 2020-2021

The following cases were heard before the U.S. Supreme Court during the 2020-2021 term.

2019-2020 term

See also:Supreme Court cases, October term 2019-2020

The following cases were heard before the U.S. Supreme Court during the 2019-2020 term.

Former judges

Former chief judges

In order to qualify for the office ofchief judge in an Article III circuit or district court, or on theUnited States Court of International Trade, a judge must be in active service and hold seniority over the court's commissioned judges who are 64 years of age or under, have served one year or more, and have not previously served as chief judge.^[9]

In the event that no judge on the court meets those qualifications, the youngest judge in regular active service aged 65 years or more and who has served as a judge for one year or more shall become chief judge. If no judge meets those qualifications, the judge holding seniority in active service who has not served as chief before shall become the chief judge.^[10][11][12]

The chief judge serves for a term of seven years until another judge becomes eligible to serve in the position. No judge is permitted to serve as chief judge after reaching the age of 70 years unless no other judge is qualified to serve.^[10][11][12]

Unlike the chief justice of the United States, a chief judge returns to active service after the expiration of their term and does not create a vacancy on the court by the fact of their promotion.^{[9][10][11][12]}

On theUnited States Court of Federal Claims, the chief judge is selected by thepresident of the United States. The judge must be less than 70 years of age. A chief may serve until they reach age 70 or until another judge is designated by the president as the new chief judge. If the president selects a new chief judge, the former chief judge may continue active service on the court for the remainder of their appointed term.^[13]

Federal courthouse

The Third Circuit shares the James A. Byrne Federal Courthouse with theEastern District of Pennsylvania located in Center CityPhiladelphia, Pennsylvania. The courthouse was designed by LZA Technology and opened in 1975 as part of the Bicentennial of the Declaration of Independence celebration.^[14][15]

About United States Courts of Appeals

TheUnited States courts of appeals (orcircuit courts) are the intermediateappellate courts of theUnited States federal courts. The court of appeals was originally created in 1891 and has grown to include thirteen courts.

A court of appeals decides appeals from any of thedistrict courts that are in its federal judicial circuit. The appeals courts also can hear appeals from some administrative agencies. Decisions of the federal appeals courts can, in turn, be appealed to theSupreme Court of the United States.

There are thirteen United States courts of appeals. In addition, there are other federal courts (such as theCourt of Appeals for the Armed Forces, which hears appeals in court-martial cases) that have "Court of Appeals" in their titles.

The eleven numbered circuits and theD.C. Circuit are defined by geography. The thirteenth court of appeal is theCourt of Appeals for the Federal Circuit. This court has nationwide jurisdiction over certain types of appeals based on what the underlying legal case is about.

All of the courts of appeals also hear appeals from some administrative agency decisions and rulemaking. The largest share of this type of case is heard by the D.C. Circuit. The Federal Circuit hears appeals from specialized trial courts, primarily theCourt of International Trade and theCourt of Federal Claims, as well as appeals from the district courts inpatent cases and certain other specialized matters.

Federal circuit court judges are appointed for life. They are paid approximately $179,500 annually. At the age of 65, a federal judge may choose to retire with his or her full salary. Judges may also choose to go onsenior status at age 65, if they have served actively for 15 years.^[16]

Appointments by president

The chart below shows the number of appeals court judges confirmed by the U.S. Senate through February 1 of the second year of each president's second term in office. At this point in the term, President Obama had the most appeals court appointments with 12.

Judges by circuit

See also:Judicial vacancies in federal courts

The table below displays the number of judges in each circuit and indicates how many were appointed by presidents from each major political party. It also includes the number of vacancies on a circuit and how many pending nominations for that circuit are before theUnited States Senate. The table can be sorted by clicking the column headers above the line. It is updated every Monday.

See also

• Federal courts
• Federal judge
• United States Court of Appeals
• District of Delaware
• District of New Jersey
• Eastern District of Pennsylvania
• Middle District of Pennsylvania
• Western District of Pennsylvania

External links

• Official Website of the Third Circuit Court of Appeals
• List of Third Circuit Judges
• Opinions of the Third Circuit
• Federal Judicial Center - About the Third Circuit

Footnotes

v • e Federal judges who have served theU.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit
Active judges	Chief Judge: Michael Chagares  •  Patty Shwartz  •  Felipe Restrepo  •  Thomas Hardiman  •  Cheryl Ann Krause  •  Tamika Montgomery-Reeves  •  Stephanos Bibas  •  Peter Phipps  •  Paul Matey  •  David Porter (Third Circuit)  •  Arianna Freeman  •  Cindy Chung  •  Emil Bove  •  Jennifer Mascott
Senior judges	Thomas Vanaskie  •  Anthony Scirica  •  Walter Stapleton (federal judge)  •  Robert Cowen  •  Jane Roth  •  Richard Nygaard  •  Theodore McKee  •  Marjorie Rendell  •  Thomas Ambro  •  Julio Fuentes  •  Brooks Smith  •  D. Michael Fisher  •
Former judges	Samuel Alito  •  Joseph Greenaway  •  Thomas Vanaskie  •  Marcus Wilson Acheson  •  Joseph Weis (Third Circuit)  •  Morton Greenberg  •  Ruggero Aldisert  •  Dolores Sloviter  •  Theodore McKee  •  Maryanne Trump Barry  •  Kent Jordan  •  Joseph Buffington  •  George Mifflin Dallas  •  Timothy Lewis (Pennsylvania)  •  Lee Sarokin  •  James Hunter  •  James Rosen  •  Michael Chertoff  •  Robert Wodrow Archbald  •  George Gray (Third Circuit)  •  John Bayard McPherson  •  William Mershon Lanning  •  Joseph Whitaker Thompson  •  John Warren Davis (Third Circuit)  •  Thomas Griffith Haight  •  Victor Baynard Woolley  •  William Clark (New Jersey)  •  Harry Kalodner  •  Phillip Forman  •  Albert Maris  •  John Biggs  •  Francis Biddle  •  William Francis Smith  •  Edward Becker  •  Abraham Freedman  •  James Ganey  •  Francis Van Dusen  •  Aloyisus Higginbotham  •  Carol Mansmann  •  Herbert Goodrich  •  Arlin Adams  •  John Gibbons (Third Circuit)  •  William Hastie  •  William Hutchinson  •  Charles Alvin Jones  •  Gerald McLaughlin  •  John O'Connell  •  Max Rosenn  •  Collins Seitz  •  David Stahl (Third Circuit)  •  Austin Staley  •
Former Chief judges	Anthony Scirica  •  Ruggero Aldisert  •  Dolores Sloviter  •  Theodore McKee  •  Brooks Smith  •  Harry Kalodner  •  John Biggs  •  Edward Becker  •  Aloyisus Higginbotham  •  John Gibbons (Third Circuit)  •  William Hastie  •  Collins Seitz  •  Austin Staley  •