The United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit (in

case citation Case citation is a system used by legal professionals to identify past court case decisions, either in series of books called reporters or law reports, or in a neutral style that identifies a decision regardless of where it is reported. Case c ...

s, 3d Cir.) is a federal court with

appellate jurisdiction An appellate court, commonly called a court of appeal(s), appeal court, court of second instance or second instance court, is any court of law that is empowered to hear a case upon appeal from a trial court or other lower tribunal. Appellat ...

over the district courts for the following

districts A district is a type of administrative division that in some countries is managed by the local government. Across the world, areas known as "districts" vary greatly in size, spanning regions or counties, several municipalities, subdivisions ...

: * District of Delaware * District of New Jersey * Eastern District of Pennsylvania * Middle District of Pennsylvania * Western District of Pennsylvania This circuit also hears appeals from the District Court of the Virgin Islands, which is an Article IV territorial court and not a district court under Article III of the Constitution. The court is composed of 14 active judges and is based at the James A. Byrne United States Courthouse in

Philadelphia Philadelphia ( ), colloquially referred to as Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania, most populous city in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania and the List of United States cities by population, sixth-most populous city in the Unit ...

Pennsylvania Pennsylvania, officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a U.S. state, state spanning the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern United States, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes region, Great Lakes regions o ...

. The court also conducts sittings in other venues, including the

United States Virgin Islands The United States Virgin Islands, officially the Virgin Islands of the United States, are a group of Caribbean islands and a territory of the United States. The islands are geographically part of the Virgin Islands archipelago and are located ...

. It is one of 13 United States courts of appeals. Due to the court's appellate jurisdiction over

Delaware Delaware ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic and South Atlantic states, South Atlantic regions of the United States. It borders Maryland to its south and west, Pennsylvania to its north, New Jersey ...

, where more than half of publicly-traded companies in the United States incorporate, the court handles a significant number of influential commercial cases in the United States.

Current composition of the court

Vacancies and pending nominations

List of former judges

Chief judges

Succession of seats

References

External links

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Recent opinions from Findlaw
{{DEFAULTSORT:United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit Newark, New Jersey 1891 establishments in the United States Courts and tribunals established in 1891