Joy Flowers Conti (born December 7, 1948) is a senior

United States district judge The United States district courts are the trial courts of the U.S. federal judiciary. There is one district court for each federal judicial district, which each cover one U.S. state or, in some cases, a portion of a state. Each district cou ...

of the

United States District Court for the Western District of Pennsylvania The United States District Court for the Western District of Pennsylvania (in case citations, W.D. Pa.) is a federal trial court that sits in Pittsburgh, Erie, and Johnstown, Pennsylvania. It is composed of ten judges as authorized by federal ...

Early life and education

Born in Kane,

Pennsylvania Pennsylvania (; ( Pennsylvania Dutch: )), officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a state spanning the Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes regions of the United States. It borders Delaware to its southeast, ...

, Conti grew up in an army family and graduated from high school in Germany. Conti graduated from

Duquesne University Duquesne University of the Holy Spirit ( or ; Duquesne University or Duquesne) is a private Catholic research university in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Founded by members of the Congregation of the Holy Spirit , image = Holy Gh ...

with her

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 year ...

degree in 1970 where she was a member of

Alpha Phi Alpha Phi International Women's Fraternity (, also known as APhi) is an international sorority with 172 active chapters and over 250,000 initiated members. Founded at Syracuse University in Syracuse, New York on September 18, 1872, it is the fo ...

. She later graduated from

Duquesne University School of Law The Thomas R. Kline School of Law of Duquesne University is a private Catholic university law school located in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. It is approved by the American Bar Association and is a member of the Association of American Law Schools. ...

with a Juris Doctor in 1973, where she was editor-in-chief of the ''Duquesne Law Review''.

Legal career

Conti began her legal career working as a law clerk for Justice Louis L. Manderino,

Supreme Court of Pennsylvania The Supreme Court of Pennsylvania is the highest court in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania's Unified Judicial System. It also claims to be the oldest appellate court in the United States, a claim that is disputed by the Massachusetts Supreme Ju ...

from 1973 to 1974. She was in private practice in

from 1974–1976 and again from 1982 to 2002. In 1974, Conti was the first female lawyer hired by Kirkpatrick, Lockhart, Johnson & Hutchinson, now known as K&L Gates, LLP. Conti was a Professor of law at Duquesne University School of Law from 1976 to 1982. She was a Hearing examiner (part-time) for the Bureau of Occupational and Professional Affairs, Department of State in Pennsylvania from 1978 to 1982. She returned to Kirkpatrick & Lockhart in 1982. In 1996, she joined Buchanan Ingersoll & Rooney concentrating her practice on bankruptcy, healthcare, general corporate, and nonprofit corporation law.

Federal judicial career

In 2002, Conti was nominated to the United States District Court for the Western District of Pennsylvania 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 ...

on January 23, 2002 to a seat vacated by Alan N. Bloch. Conti was confirmed by the Senate on July 29, 2002 on a Senate vote and received her commission on July 31, 2002. She served as Chief Judge from 2013, upon the resignation of

Sean J. McLaughlin Sean J. McLaughlin (born January 4, 1955) is a former United States district judge of the United States District Court for the Western District of Pennsylvania. Education and career Born in Erie, Pennsylvania, McLaughlin received an Artium Bacc ...

, till 2018. She assumed

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

on December 6, 2018.

References

External links

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District Court Bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Conti, Joy Flowers 1948 births Living people American women lawyers Duquesne University alumni Duquesne University faculty Judges of the United States District Court for the Western District of Pennsylvania United States district court judges appointed by George W. Bush 21st-century American judges 21st-century American women judges