Gerald John Pappert (born May 15, 1963) is a

United States district judge The United States district courts are the trial courts of the United States federal judiciary, U.S. federal judiciary. There is one district court for each United States federal judicial district, federal judicial district, which each cover o ...

of the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania and former

Pennsylvania Attorney General The Pennsylvania Attorney General is the chief law enforcement officer of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. It became an elected office in 1980. The current Attorney General is Democrat Josh Shapiro. On August 15, 2016, then-Attorney General Kath ...

Biography

Pappert was born on May 15, 1963, in Albany,

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States New York may also refer to: Film and television * '' ...

. He received a

Bachelor of Arts Bachelor of arts (BA or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts degree course is generally completed in three or four years ...

degree, cum laude, in 1985 from

Villanova University Villanova University is a Private university, private Catholic church, Roman Catholic research university in Villanova, Pennsylvania. It was founded by the Order of Saint Augustine, Augustinians in 1842 and named after Thomas of Villanova, Sa ...

. He received a

Juris Doctor The Juris Doctor (J.D. or JD), also known as Doctor of Jurisprudence (J.D., JD, D.Jur., or DJur), is a graduate-entry professional degree in law and one of several Doctor of Law degrees. The J.D. is the standard degree obtained to practice law ...

in 1988 from the

University of Notre Dame Law School Notre Dame Law School is the professional graduate law school of the University of Notre Dame. Established in 1869, it is the oldest continuously operating Catholic Church, Catholic law school in the United States. ND Law is ranked 22nd among th ...

. He began his legal career at the law firm of

Duane Morris LLP Duane Morris LLP is a law firm headquartered in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Founded in 1904 as Duane, Morris, Heckscher, & Roberts, the firm has offices in the United States, London, Singapore, Vietnam, Oman, Myanmar, Shanghai, and Taiwan. In a ...

, from 1988 to 1997. He served as the First Deputy Attorney General of Pennsylvania, from 1997 to 2003, and as the

Attorney General of Pennsylvania The Pennsylvania Attorney General is the chief law enforcement officer of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. It became an elected office in 1980. The current Attorney General is Democrat Josh Shapiro. On August 15, 2016, then-Attorney General Kath ...

, from 2003 to 2005. He was a partner at Ballard Spahr LLP, from 2005 to 2008. He served as Executive Vice President, General Counsel and Secretary of Cephalon, Inc., from 2008 to 2012. From 2012 to 2014, he was a partner at

Cozen O'Connor Cozen O'Connor P.C. is an international law firm based in Center City Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The firm was ranked 74th on the AmLaw 100 Survey in 2021, 92nd on the Global 200, 1st in the nation in ''The American Lawyer'' in its Midlevel Asso ...

. He concurrently served as Chair of the Pennsylvania Banking and Securities Commission.

Federal judicial service

On June 16, 2014, President

Barack Obama Barack Hussein Obama II ( ; born August 4, 1961) is an American politician who served as the 44th president of the United States from 2009 to 2017. A member of the Democratic Party, Obama was the first African-American president of the U ...

nominated Pappert to serve as a United States District Judge of the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania, to the seat vacated by Judge

Stewart Dalzell Stewart Richard Dalzell (September 18, 1943 – February 18, 2019) was a United States district judge of the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania. Education and early career Born in Hackensack, New Jersey, Dalz ...

, who assumed

senior status Senior status is a form of semi-retirement for United States federal judges. To qualify, a judge in the Federal judiciary of the United States, federal court system must be at least 65 years old, and the sum of the judge's age and years of servi ...

on October 31, 2013. On July 24, 2014 a hearing before the

United States Senate Committee on the Judiciary The United States Senate Committee on the Judiciary, informally the Senate Judiciary Committee, is a standing committee of 22 U.S. senators whose role is to oversee the Department of Justice (DOJ), consider executive and judicial nominations, a ...

was held on his nomination. On September 18, 2014 his nomination was reported out of committee by a

voice vote In parliamentary procedure, a voice vote (from the Latin ''viva voce'', meaning "live voice") or acclamation is a voting method in deliberative assemblies (such as legislatures) in which a group vote is taken on a topic or motion by responding vo ...

. On December 1, 2014 Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid filed for cloture on his nomination. On Wednesday December 3, 2014 cloture was invoked by a 67–28 vote. He was later confirmed by a

that same day. He received his judicial commission on December 4, 2014.

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Pappert, Jerry 1963 births Living people Judges of the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania Notre Dame Law School alumni Pennsylvania Attorneys General Pennsylvania lawyers Pennsylvania Republicans Lawyers from Albany, New York United States district court judges appointed by Barack Obama 21st-century American judges Villanova University alumni