United States District Court for the District of Delaware

United States District Court for the District of Delaware (D. Del.)
Map
Appeals to	Third Circuit
Established	September 24, 1789
Judges assigned	4
Chief judge	Gregory M. Sleet
Official site

The United States District Court for the District of Delaware (in case citations, D. Del.) is the Federal district court having jurisdiction over the entire state of Delaware. The Court sits in Wilmington. Currently, three judges and one magistrate judge preside over the court.

The Court is notable for hearing and trying a large number of patent and other complex commercial disputes. In addition, it has limited original and broad appellate jurisdiction over bankruptcy disputes which are filed with the United States Bankruptcy Court for the District of Delaware.

Appeals from the Court are heard by the United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit, which sits in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania (except for patent claims and claims against the U.S. government under the Tucker Act, which are appealed to the Federal Circuit).

The current U.S. Attorney for the District of Delaware is David C. Weiss.

History

The court was one of the original 13 courts established by the Judiciary Act of 1789, 1 Stat. 73, on September 24, 1789. From its establishment until 1946, the court had a single judge. A temporary additional judgeship was authorized on July 24, 1946, by 60 Stat. 654, and was made permanent on September 5, 1950, by 64 Stat. 578. A third judge was authorized on February 10, 1954, by 68 Stat. 8, and a fourth on July 10, 1984, by 98 Stat. 333.

Current judges

There currently are no vacancies on the court.

#	Title	Judge	Duty station	Born	Term of service			Appointed by
					Active	Chief	Senior
22	Chief Judge	Gregory M. Sleet	Wilmington	1951	1998–present	2007–present	—	Clinton
20	District Judge	Sue Lewis Robinson	Wilmington	1952	1991–present	2000–2007	—	G.H.W. Bush
24	District Judge	Leonard P. Stark	Wilmington	1969	2010–present	—	—	Obama
25	District Judge	Richard G. Andrews	Wilmington	1955	2011–present	—	—	Obama
16	Senior District Judge	Murray Merle Schwartz	Wilmington	1931	1974–1989	1985–1989	1989–present	Nixon
17	Senior District Judge	Joseph J. Longobardi	Wilmington	1930	1984–1997	1989–1996	1997–present	Reagan

Former judges

#	Judge	State	Born/Died	Active service	Term as Chief Judge	Senior status	Appointed by	Reason for termination
1	Bedford, Jr., GunningGunning Bedford, Jr.	DE	1747–1812	1789–1812	(none)	(none)	Washington, Washington	death
2	Fisher, JohnJohn Fisher	DE	1771–1823	1812–1823	(none)	(none)	Madison, Madison	death
3	Hall, WillardWillard Hall	DE	1780–1875	1823–1871	(none)	(none)	Monroe, Monroe	retirement
4	Bradford, Edward GreenEdward Green Bradford	DE	1819–1884	1871–1884	(none)	(none)	Grant, Grant	death
5	Wales, Leonard EugeneLeonard Eugene Wales	DE	1823–1897	1884–1897	(none)	(none)	Arthur, Arthur	death
6	Bradford II, Edward GreenEdward Green Bradford II	DE	1848–1928	1897–1918	(none)	(none)	McKinley, McKinley	retirement
7	Morris, Hugh M.Hugh M. Morris	DE	1878–1966	1919–1930	(none)	(none)	Wilson, Wilson	resignation
8	Nields, John PercyJohn Percy Nields	DE	1868–1943	1930–1941	(none)	1941–1943	Hoover, Hoover	death
9	Leahy, Paul ConwayPaul Conway Leahy	DE	1904–1966	1942–1957	1948–1957	1957–1966	Roosevelt, F.F. Roosevelt	death
10	Rodney, Richard SeymourRichard Seymour Rodney	DE	1882–1963	1946–1957	(none)	1957–1963	Truman, Truman	death
11	Wright, Caleb MerrillCaleb Merrill Wright	DE	1908–2001	1955–1973	1957–1973	1973–2001	Eisenhower, Eisenhower	death
12	Layton III, Caleb RodneyCaleb Rodney Layton III	DE	1907–1988	1957–1968	(none)	1968–1988	Eisenhower, Eisenhower	death
13	Steel, Jr., Edwin DeHavenEdwin DeHaven Steel, Jr.	DE	1904–1986	1958–1969	(none)	1969–1986	Eisenhower, Eisenhower	death
14	Latchum, James LevinJames Levin Latchum	DE	1918–2004	1968–1983	1973–1983	1983–2004	Johnson, L.L. Johnson	death
15	Stapleton, Walter KingWalter King Stapleton	DE	1934–present	1970–1985	1983–1985	(none)	Nixon, Nixon	appointment to 3rd Cir.
18	Farnan, Jr., Joseph JamesJoseph James Farnan, Jr.	DE	1942–present	1985–2010	1996–2000	(none)	Reagan, Reagan	retirement
19	Roth, Jane RichardsJane Richards Roth	DE	1935–present	1985–1991	(none)	(none)	Reagan, Reagan	appointment to 3rd Cir.
21	McKelvie, Roderick R.Roderick R. McKelvie	DE	1946–present	1992–2002	(none)	(none)	Bush, G.H.W.G.H.W. Bush	resignation
23	Jordan, Kent A.Kent A. Jordan	DE	1957–present	2002–2006	(none)	(none)	Bush, G.W.G.W. Bush	appointment to 3rd Cir.

See also

• Courts of Delaware
• List of United States federal courthouses in Delaware

Notes

External links

• United States District Court for the District of Delaware
• U.S. District Court of Delaware, Legislative history, Federal Judicial Center.