Lawrence Francis Stengel (born August 7, 1952) is a former

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 The United States District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania (in case citations, E.D. Pa.) is one of the original 13 federal judiciary districts created by the Judiciary Act of 1789. It originally sat in Independence Hall in Phila ...

Education and career

Born in

Lancaster, Pennsylvania Lancaster, ( ; pdc, Lengeschder) is a city in and the county seat of Lancaster County, Pennsylvania. It is one of the oldest inland cities in the United States. With a population at the 2020 census of 58,039, it ranks 11th in population amon ...

, Stengel is the son of Lawrence E. Stengel (d. 2006), a lawyer. 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 from

Saint Joseph's University Saint Joseph's University (SJU or St. Joe's) is a private Jesuit university in Philadelphia and Lower Merion, Pennsylvania. The university was founded by the Society of Jesus in 1851 as Saint Joseph's College. Saint Joseph's is the seventh olde ...

in 1974 and 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 ...

from the

University of Pittsburgh School of Law The University of Pittsburgh School of Law (Pitt Law) was founded in 1895. It became a charter member of the Association of American Law Schools in 1900. Its primary home facility is the Barco Law Building. The school offers four degrees: Master ...

in 1980. He was a teacher at

Lancaster Catholic High School Lancaster Catholic High School is a Catholic co-educational high school located in Lancaster, Pennsylvania, United States. It is part of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Harrisburg secondary schools. Academics Timothy Hamer has been the school's pre ...

from 1974 to 1977. He was in private practice in

Pittsburgh Pittsburgh ( ) is a city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, United States, and the county seat of Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, Allegheny County. It is the most populous city in both Allegheny County and Wester ...

from 1980 to 1984, and in Lancaster from 1985 to 1990. He was a judge on the Lancaster County

Court of Common Pleas A court of common pleas is a common kind of court structure found in various common law jurisdictions. The form originated with the Court of Common Pleas at Westminster, which was created to permit individuals to press civil grievances against one ...

from 1990 to 2004. He also teaches as an adjunct professor at

Franklin & Marshall College Franklin & Marshall College (F&M) is a private liberal arts college in Lancaster, Pennsylvania. It employs 175 full-time faculty members and has a student body of approximately 2,400 full-time students. It was founded upon the merger of Fran ...

from 1997 to present, and at

Millersville University Millersville University of Pennsylvania (commonly known as Millersville University, The Ville, or MU) is a public university in Millersville, Pennsylvania. It is one of the fourteen schools that comprise the Pennsylvania State System of Higher E ...

from 2000 to 2004.

Notable case

As a state judge, Stengel presided over the trial of Lisa Michelle Lambert for the

murder of Laurie Show Laurie Show was a 16-year-old sophomore at Conestoga Valley High School who was stalked by her classmates and murdered on December 20, 1991, in the United States. Her body was discovered in her Lancaster, Pennsylvania, home by her mother Hazel Sh ...

, a noteworthy case in Lancaster County history.

Federal judicial service

On November 6, 2003, Stengel was nominated by President

George W. Bush George Walker Bush (born July 6, 1946) is an American politician who served as the 43rd president of the United States from 2001 to 2009. A member of the Republican Party, Bush family, and son of the 41st president George H. W. Bush, he ...

to a seat on the

vacated by

Ronald L. Buckwalter Ronald Lawrence Buckwalter (born December 11, 1936) is an inactive Senior status, senior United States federal judge, United States district judge of the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania. Education and career ...

. Stengel was confirmed by the

United States Senate The United States Senate is the upper chamber of the United States Congress, with the House of Representatives being the lower chamber. Together they compose the national bicameral legislature of the United States. The composition and pow ...

on June 16, 2004, and received his commission on June 21, 2004. Stengel became Chief Judge of the District on August 1, 2017, and resigned from that position on August 1, 2018. Stengel retired from active service on August 31, 2018, and joined the Saxton and Stump law firm to lead their investigations and mediation group, Optimal Dispute Resolutions.

Personal life

Stengel has been married twice. He has five children. He lives in

East Hempfield Township, Pennsylvania East Hempfield Township is a township (Pennsylvania), township in west-central Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, United States. At the 2020 census the population was 26,350. East Hempfield is one of the six immediate ...

; as a federal judge, he commuted to work at the

James A. Byrne United States Courthouse The James A. Byrne United States Courthouse is a Federal courthouse in the Center City region of Philadelphia. The court houses the United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit and the United States District Court for the Eastern Distri ...

in Philadelphia.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Stengel, Lawrence Francis 1952 births Living people 20th-century American lawyers 20th-century American judges 21st-century American lawyers 21st-century American judges Franklin & Marshall College faculty Judges of the Pennsylvania Courts of Common Pleas Judges of the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania Lawyers from Pittsburgh People from Lancaster, Pennsylvania Saint Joseph's University alumni United States district court judges appointed by George W. Bush University of Pittsburgh School of Law alumni