Florence Pan | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 潘愉 | |||||||||
 Pan in 2021 | |||||||||
| Judge of theUnited States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit | |||||||||
| Assumed office September 26, 2022 | |||||||||
| Appointed by | Joe Biden | ||||||||
| Preceded by | Ketanji Brown Jackson | ||||||||
| Judge of theUnited States District Court for the District of Columbia | |||||||||
| In office September 23, 2021 – September 28, 2022 | |||||||||
| Appointed by | Joe Biden | ||||||||
| Preceded by | Ketanji Brown Jackson | ||||||||
| Succeeded by | Sparkle L. Sooknanan | ||||||||
| Associate Judge of theSuperior Court of the District of Columbia | |||||||||
| In office June 8, 2009 – September 23, 2021 | |||||||||
| Appointed by | Barack Obama | ||||||||
| Preceded by | Linda Turner Hamilton | ||||||||
| Succeeded by | Carl Ezekiel Ross | ||||||||
| Personal details | |||||||||
| Born | (1966-11-16)November 16, 1966 (age 59) New York City,New York, U.S. | ||||||||
| Spouse | |||||||||
| Children | 2 | ||||||||
| Education | University of Pennsylvania (BA,BS) Stanford University (JD) | ||||||||
| Chinese name | |||||||||
| Chinese | 潘愉[1] | ||||||||
| |||||||||
Florence Yu Pan (Chinese: 潘愉;pinyin:Pān Yú; born November 16, 1966)[2] is an American lawyer who serves as aUnited States circuit judge of theUnited States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit.[3] She was a United States district judge of theUnited States District Court for the District of Columbia from 2021 to 2022 and a judge of theSuperior Court of the District of Columbia from 2009 to 2021.
Pan was born in 1966 to aTaiwanese American family inNew York City. Her parents had immigrated to the United States fromTaiwan in 1961. Her father is Wu-Ching Pan, and her mother is Felicia D. Pan.[4] She grew up inTenafly, New Jersey.[5]
Pan attended theWharton School of theUniversity of Pennsylvania, graduating in 1988 with aBachelor of Arts and aBachelor of Science degree,summa cum laude.[6] From 1988 to 1990, Pan worked forGoldman Sachs as afinancial analyst. She then attendedStanford Law School, where she was an editor of theStanford Law Review and theStanford Law and Policy Review and was a finalist in the school'smoot court competition. She graduated in 1993 with aJuris Doctor with distinction.[7][8]
After graduating from law school, Pan was alaw clerk for JudgeMichael Mukasey of theU.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York from 1993 to 1994[7] and for JudgeRalph K. Winter Jr. of theU.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit from 1994 to 1995.[7]
Pan worked for theUnited States Department of Justice as a BristowFellow in theOffice of the Solicitor General from 1995 to 1996 and then as an attorney in the Appellate Section of theCriminal Division from 1996 to 1998.[5] She next worked at theUnited States Department of Treasury, first as a senior advisor to the assistant secretary for financial markets in 1998 and subsequently as a senior advisor to the undersecretary for domestic finance in 1999.[5]
From 1999 to 2009, she served as anassistant United States attorney in theUnited States Attorney's Office for the District of Columbia, where she also served as deputy chief of the Appellate Section from 2007 to 2009.[9]
From 2007 to 2008, she was anadjunct professor atAmerican University Washington College of Law and since 2012, she has been an adjunct professor atGeorgetown University Law Center.[8][10]
On March 24, 2009, PresidentBarack Obama nominated Pan to serve as an associate judge on theSuperior Court of the District of Columbia.[11] Pan was confirmed by voice vote on May 21, 2009,[12] and sworn in on June 8 of that year.[13] She remained on the court until her confirmation to the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia in 2021.[14][10]
On April 28, 2016, PresidentBarack Obama nominated Pan to serve as aUnited States district judge for theDistrict of Columbia, to the seat vacated by JudgeReggie Walton, who assumedsenior status on December 31, 2015.[15] On July 13, 2016, a hearing on her nomination was held before theSenate Judiciary Committee.[16] On September 15, 2016, her nomination was favorably reported by the committee byvoice vote.[17] Her nomination expired on January 3, 2017, with the end of the114th Congress.
On March 30, 2021, PresidentJoe Biden announced his intent to nominate Pan to serve as a United States district judge for the District of Columbia.[18] On June 15, 2021, her nomination was sent to the Senate. President Biden nominated Pan to the seat vacated by JudgeKetanji Brown Jackson, who was nominated to serve as a circuit judge for theUnited States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit.[19] On July 14, 2021, a hearing on her nomination was held before theSenate Judiciary Committee.[20] On August 5, 2021, her nomination was favorably reported by the committee by a 18–4 vote.[21] On September 20, 2021, Majority LeaderChuck Schumer filedcloture on her nomination.[22] On September 22, 2021, theUnited States Senate invoked cloture on her nomination by a 66–27 vote.[23] On September 23, 2021, her nomination was confirmed by a 68–30 vote.[24] She received her judicial commission the same day.[10] She is the firstAsian American woman to serve on the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia.[18][25] Her service as a district judge was terminated on September 28, 2022, when she was elevated to the court of appeals.[10]
On May 25, 2022, PresidentJoe Biden nominated Pan to serve as aUnited States circuit judge for theDistrict of Columbia Circuit.[26] She was nominated to the seat being vacated by JudgeKetanji Brown Jackson, who was elevated to theSupreme Court of the United States.[27] A hearing on her nomination was held before theSenate Judiciary Committee on June 22, 2022.[28] On July 21, 2022, her nomination was favorably reported by the committee by a 13–9 vote.[29] On September 15, 2022, Majority Leader Chuck Schumer filed cloture on her nomination.[30] On September 19, 2022, the Senate invoked cloture on her nomination by a 52–38 vote.[31] On September 20, 2022, her nomination was confirmed by a 52–42 vote.[32] She received her judicial commission on September 26, 2022.[10] She is the firstChinese American to serve on the United States Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit.[33]
In the 2024 caseUnited States of America v. Donald J. Trump, Judge Pan and two others presided over a federal appeals case that rejected Donald Trump's claim of absolute presidential immunity. During the January 2024 hearing, she challenged the Trump counsel's legal argument by posing a hypothetical scenario in which a president could order an assassination of a political rival and still be immune from prosecution.[34] The Supreme Court overturned the circuit court's ruling and held that the president has immunity for official acts.[35]
In 2004, Pan married attorneyMax Stier, whom she met at Stanford Law School and who serves as the president and CEO of thePartnership for Public Service, at theEmbassy of New Zealand inWashington, D.C.[36] They have two sons.[37][38]
She is a daughter of Felicia D. Pan and Wu-Ching Pan of Cliffside Park, N.J.
This article incorporates text from this source, which is in thepublic domain. This article incorporates text from this source, which is in thepublic domain. This article incorporates text from this source, which is in thepublic domain.The Senate voted 52-42 in favor of Pan becoming the first Chinese American to serve on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit, a court many consider second only to the U.S. Supreme Court in importance thanks to a docket heavy with cases concerning government decisions and regulations.
Florence Yu Pan and Max Ian Stier were married yesterday at the New Zealand Embassy in Washington. RabbiM. Bruce Lustig performed the ceremony, which was followed by a Chinese wedding banquet.
| Legal offices | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by Linda Turner Hamilton | Judge of theSuperior Court of the District of Columbia 2009–2021 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Judge of theUnited States District Court for the District of Columbia 2021–2022 | Succeeded by |
| Judge of theUnited States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit 2022–present | Incumbent | |
| International | |
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| National | |
| Other | |
