The United States courts of appeals are the intermediate appellate courts of the United States federal judiciary. They hear appeals of cases from the United States district courts and some U.S. administrative agencies,and their decisions can be appealed to the Supreme Court of the United States. The courts of appeals are divided into 13 "Circuits". Eleven of the circuits are numbered "First" through "Eleventh" and cover geographic areas of the United States and hear appeals from the U.S. district courts within their borders. The District of Columbia Circuit covers only Washington,DC. The Federal Circuit hears appeals from federal courts across the United States in cases involving certain specialized areas of law.
Judith Ann Wilson Rogers is a senior United States circuit judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit.
Steven Michael Colloton is a United States circuit judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit since 2003. He became chief judge in March 2024.
Denny Chin is a senior United States circuit judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit,based in New York City. He was a United States District Judge of the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York before joining the federal appeals bench. President Bill Clinton nominated Chin to the district court on March 24,1994,and Chin was confirmed August 9 of that same year. On October 6,2009,President Barack Obama nominated Chin to the Second Circuit. He was confirmed on April 22,2010,by the United States Senate,filling the vacancy created by Judge Robert D. Sack who assumed senior status. Chin was the first Asian American appointed as a United States District Judge outside of the Ninth Circuit.
Sandra Lea Lynch is an American lawyer who serves as a senior United States circuit judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the First Circuit. She is the first woman to serve on that court. Lynch served as chief judge of the First Circuit from 2008 to 2015.
Thomas Michael Hardiman is a United States circuit judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit. Nominated by President George W. Bush,he began active service on April 2,2007. He maintains chambers in Pittsburgh,Pennsylvania,and was previously a United States district judge.
Joseph Anthony Greenaway Jr. is an American lawyer who served as a United States circuit judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit from 2010 to 2023. He also previously sat on the United States District Court for the District of New Jersey from 1996 to 2010. On February 9,2010,he was confirmed to his seat on the Third Circuit,filling the vacancy created by Justice Samuel Alito's elevation to the United States Supreme Court. Greenaway had been mentioned as a possible candidate for the Supreme Court by President Barack Obama.
Richard Joseph Sullivan is an American lawyer who serves as a United States circuit judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit. He was formerly a United States district judge of the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York from 2007 to 2018.
Paul G. Gardephe is a Senior United States district judge of the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York.
Amul Roger Thapar is an American attorney and jurist serving as a United States circuit judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit. He previously served as a U.S. district judge of the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Kentucky from 2008 to 2017 and as the United States Attorney for the Eastern District of Kentucky from 2006 to 2008. Thapar was President Donald Trump's first Court of Appeals appointment and Trump's second judicial appointment after Justice Neil Gorsuch. Thapar was discussed as a candidate for the Supreme Court of the United States.
Stephanos Bibas is an American lawyer and jurist who serves as a U.S. circuit judge on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit. Before his appointment to the bench,Bibas was a professor of law and criminology at the University of Pennsylvania Law School,where he also served as director of its Supreme Court clinic.
Raymond Joseph Lohier Jr. is a Canadian-born American lawyer who serves as a United States circuit judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit. Formerly,he was an assistant United States attorney for the Southern District of New York and a senior trial attorney in the United States Department of Justice Civil Rights Division. He was the chief of the securities and commodities fraud task force in the criminal division of the U.S. Attorney's office. He was recommended by New York Senator Charles Schumer for nomination to the seat on the Second Circuit that was vacated by Judge Sonia Sotomayor when she was elevated to the Supreme Court of the United States. Lohier is the first Haitian-American to serve as an Article III federal judge and to be confirmed by the United States Senate as a judge.
Paul Adam Engelmayer is a United States district judge of the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York.
Patty Shwartz is a United States circuit judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit.
Paul Jeffrey Watford is an American lawyer who served as a United States circuit judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit from 2012 to 2023. In 2016,The New York Times identified Watford as a potential Supreme Court nominee to replace Justice Antonin Scalia. Watford resigned his judgeship in 2023 and became a partner at the law firm Wilson Sonsini Goodrich &Rosati.
Cornelia Thayer Livingston Pillard,known professionally as Nina Pillard,is an American lawyer and jurist serving since 2013 as a U.S. circuit judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit. Before becoming a judge,Pillard was a law professor at Georgetown University.
Randolph Daniel Moss is a United States district judge of the United States District Court for the District of Columbia.
Florence Yu Pan is an American lawyer who serves as a United States circuit judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit. She was a United States district judge of the United States District Court for the District of Columbia from 2021 to 2022 and a judge of the Superior Court of the District of Columbia from 2009 to 2021.
Lewis Jeffrey Liman is a United States district judge of the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York.
Michael Hun Park is an American lawyer who serves as a United States circuit judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit.
