United States Court of International Trade

Court of International Trade

Federal Circuit
Judgeships
Posts: 9
Judges: 9
Vacancies: 0
Judges
Chief: Mark A. Barnett
Active judges: Miller Baker, Mark A. Barnett, Jennifer Choe Groves, Gary S. Katzmann, Claire R. Kelly, Joseph Laroski, Timothy Reif, Stephen Vaden, Lisa Wang

Senior judges:
Thomas Aquilino, Judith Barzilay, Richard Eaton, Richard Goldberg, Leo Gordon, Jane Restani, Delissa Ridgway, Timothy Stanceu

The United States Court of International Trade is an Article III federal court. The Customs Court Act of 1980 replaced the former United States Customs Court with the United States Court of International Trade. The court sits in New York City, although it is authorized to sit elsewhere, including in foreign nations.

Appeals from the Court of International Trade are heard by the United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit, which normally sits in Washington, D.C. Further appeals from the United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit are heard by the Supreme Court of the United States.[1]

The Court of International Trade has 9 authorized judicial posts. The chief judge of the court is Mark A. Barnett, who was appointed by President Barack Obama (D). Three of the judges on the court were appointed by Donald Trump (R).

## Contents

* 1 Vacancies
* 1.1 Pending nominations
* 2 Active judges
* 2.1 Sitting judges
* 2.1.1 Active Article III judges by appointing political party
* 2.2 Former chief judges
* 2.3 Former judges
* 2.4 Senior judges
* 2.4.1 Senior judges by appointing political party
* 3 Jurisdiction
* 4 History
* 5 Noteworthy cases
* 5.1 Judicial posts
* 6 Federal courthouse
* 7 About United States Courts of Appeal
* 7.1 Appointments by president
* 7.2 Judges by circuit
* 8 See also
* 9 External links
* 10 Footnotes

## Vacancies[edit]

See also: Current federal judicial vacancies

There are no current vacancies on the United States Court of International Trade, out of the court's nine judicial positions.

### Pending nominations[edit]

There are no pending nominees for this court.

## Active judges[edit]

### Sitting judges[edit]

Judge | Appointed By | Assumed Office | Bachelors | Law

|
|
|
|

Claire R. Kelly

Barack Obama (D)

|  May 28, 2013 -  |

Barnard College, 1987

Brooklyn Law School, 1993

Mark A. Barnett

Barack Obama (D)

|  May 28, 2013 -  |

Dickinson College, 1985

University of Michigan Law, 1988

Jennifer Choe Groves

Barack Obama (D)

|  June 8, 2016 -  |

Princeton University, 1991

Rutgers Law School, Newark, 1994

Gary S. Katzmann

Barack Obama (D)

|  September 15, 2016 -  |

Columbia College, 1973

Yale Law School, 1979

Timothy Reif

Donald Trump (R)

|  August 8, 2019 -  |

Princeton University, 1980

Columbia Law School, 1985

Miller Baker

Donald Trump (R)

|  December 18, 2019 -  |

Louisiana State University, 1981

Tulane University Law School, 1984

Stephen Vaden

Donald Trump (R)

|  December 21, 2020 -  |

Vanderbilt University, 2004

Yale Law School, 2008

Lisa Wang

Joe Biden (D)

|  February 7, 2024 -  |

Cornell University, 2002

Georgetown University Law Center, 2006

Joseph Laroski

Joe Biden (D)

|  February 14, 2024 -  |

Georgetown University School of Foreign Service, 1993

Georgetown University Law Center, 1998

#### Active Article III judges by appointing political party[edit]

The list below displays the number of active judges by the party of the appointing president. It does not reflect how a judge may rule on specific cases or their own political preferences.

* Democrat appointed: 6
* Republican appointed: 3

### Former chief judges[edit]

In order to qualify for the office of chief judge in an Article III circuit or district court, or on the United States Court of International Trade, a judge must be in active service and hold seniority over the court's commissioned judges who are 64 years of age or under, have served one year or more, and have not previously served as chief judge.[2]

In the event that no judge on the court meets those qualifications, the youngest judge in regular active service aged 65 years or more and who has served as a judge for one year or more shall become chief judge. If no judge meets those qualifications, the judge holding seniority in active service who has not served as chief before shall become the chief judge.[3][4][5]

The chief judge serves for a term of seven years until another judge becomes eligible to serve in the position. No judge is permitted to serve as chief judge after reaching the age of 70 years unless no other judge is qualified to serve.[3][4][5]

Unlike the chief justice of the United States, a chief judge returns to active service after the expiration of their term and does not create a vacancy on the court by the fact of their promotion.[2][3][4][5]

On the United States Court of Federal Claims, the chief judge is selected by the president of the United States. The judge must be less than 70 years of age. A chief may serve until they reach age 70 or until another judge is designated by the president as the new chief judge. If the president selects a new chief judge, the former chief judge may continue active service on the court for the remainder of their appointed term.[6]

* Timothy Stanceu \- (2014-2021)
* Donald Pogue \- (2010-2014)
* Jane Restani \- (2003-2010)
* Gregory Carman \- (1996-2003)

### Former judges[edit]

For more information about the judges of the Court of International Trade, see former federal judges of the Court of International Trade.

### Senior judges[edit]

Judge | Appointed By | Assumed Office | Bachelors | Law

|
|
|
|

Richard Goldberg

George H.W. Bush (R)

|  April 2, 2001 -  |

University of Miami, 1950

University of Miami Law, 1952

Thomas Aquilino

Ronald Reagan (R)

|  December 10, 2004 -  |

Drew University, 1962

Rutgers Law School, 1969

Judith Barzilay

Bill Clinton (D)

|  June 2, 2011 -  |

Wichita State University, 1965

Rutgers University Law, 1981

Richard Eaton

Bill Clinton (D)

|  August 22, 2014 -  |

Ithaca College, 1970

Union University Law, 1974

Jane Restani

Ronald Reagan (R)

|  March 1, 2015 -  |

University of California, Berkeley, 1969

University of California, Davis School of Law, 1973

Delissa Ridgway

Bill Clinton (D)

|  January 31, 2019 -  |

University of Missouri, 1975

Northeastern University Law School, 1979

Leo Gordon

George W. Bush (R)

|  March 22, 2019 -  |

University of North Carolina, 1973

Emory University Law School, 1977

Timothy Stanceu

George W. Bush (R)

|  April 5, 2021 -  |

Colgate University, 1973

Georgetown University, 1979

#### Senior judges by appointing political party[edit]

The list below displays the number of senior judges by the party of the appointing president. It does not reflect how a judge may rule on specific cases or their own political preferences.

* Democrat appointed: 3
* Republican appointed: 5

## Jurisdiction[edit]

The court possesses limited subject matter jurisdiction across the United States. It may hear only cases involving particular international trade and customs law questions. The court hears disputes, such as those involving protests filed with U.S. Customs and Border Protection, decisions regarding Trade Adjustment Assistance by the U.S. Department of Labor or U.S. Department of Agriculture, customs broker licensing, and disputes relating to determinations made by the United States International Trade Commission and the Department of Commerce's International Trade Administration regarding anti-dumping and countervailing duties.

There is one notable exception to the court's jurisdiction. In cases involving anti-dumping and countervailing duties imposed on Canadian or Mexican merchandise, an interested party can request that the case be heard before a special ad hoc bi-national panel organized under Chapter 19 of the 1988 Canadian-U.S. Free Trade Agreement.

Most cases are heard by a single judge. If a case challenges the constitutionality of a U.S. law or has important implications regarding the administration or interpretation of the customs laws, then it may be heard by a three-judge panel.

Although the court maintains its own rules of procedure, they are patterned for the most part on the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure. The court has held that decisions interpreting the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure are "instructive" in interpreting its own rules.[1]

## History[edit]

The court was established by Congress with the Customs Courts Act of 1980 and was the culmination of past attempts to regulate U.S. customs with the rule of law. The earliest predecessor of the court, the Board of General Appraisers, was formed by Congress in 1890 to review decisions by U.S. customs officials. In 1926, Congress eliminated the board and founded the United States Customs Court under Article I of the Constitution, which functioned identically to the former board. The court was converted into an Article III court in 1956, and customs acts in 1970 and 1980 slowly changed the procedural and jurisdictional qualities of the court.[1]

## Noteworthy cases[edit]

You can find a list of decisions at United States Court of International Trade, Slip opinions.

### Judicial posts[edit]

The current composition of the court under the final act in 1980 consists of nine judges appointed by the president for life terms.[1]

## Federal courthouse[edit]

The court is located at One Federal Plaza in New York City at the Courthouse of the United States Court of International Trade.[1]

## About United States Courts of Appeal[edit]

The United States courts of appeals (or circuit courts) are the intermediate appellate courts of the United States federal courts. The court of appeals was originally created in 1891 and has grown to include thirteen courts.

A court of appeals decides appeals from any of the district courts that are in its federal judicial circuit. The appeals courts also can hear appeals from some administrative agencies. Decisions of the federal appeals courts can, in turn, be appealed to the Supreme Court of the United States.

There are thirteen United States courts of appeals. In addition, there are other federal courts (such as the Court of Appeals for the Armed Forces, which hears appeals in court-martial cases) that have "Court of Appeals" in their titles.

The eleven "numbered" circuits and the D.C. Circuit are defined by geography. The thirteenth court of appeal is the Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit. This court has nationwide jurisdiction over certain types of appeals based on what the underlying legal case is about.

All of the courts of appeals also hear appeals from some administrative agency decisions and rulemaking. The largest share of this type of case is heard by the D.C. Circuit. The Federal Circuit hears appeals from specialized trial courts, primarily the Court of International Trade and the Court of Federal Claims, as well as appeals from the district courts in patent cases and certain other specialized matters.

Federal circuit court judges are appointed for life. They are paid approximately $179,500 annually. At the age of 65, a federal judge may choose to retire with his or her full salary. Judges may also choose to go on senior status at age 65, if they have served actively for 15 years.[7]

### Appointments by president[edit]

The chart below shows the number of appeals court judges confirmed by the U.S. Senate through August 1 of the fourth year of each president's term in office. At this point in the term, President Trump had the most appeals court appointments with 53.

### Judges by circuit[edit]

See also: Judicial vacancies in federal courts

The table below displays the number of judges in each circuit and indicates how many were appointed by presidents from each major political party. It also includes the number of vacancies on a circuit and how many pending nominations for that circuit are before the United States Senate. The table can be sorted by clicking the column headers above the line. It is updated every Monday.

## See also[edit]

* Customs Court Act of 1980

## External links[edit]

* Search Google News for this topic
* United States Court of International Trade

## Footnotes[edit]

1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 Court of International Trade, "About the Court," accessed May 2, 2021
2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 United States Courts, "Frequently Asked Questions," accessed January 25, 2022
3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 Cornell Law School Legal Information Institute, "28 U.S. Code § 136 - Chief judges; precedence of district judges," accessed January 25, 2022
4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 Cornell Law School Legal Information Institute, "28 U.S. Code § 258 - Chief judges; precedence of judges," accessed January 25, 2022
5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 Cornell Law School Legal Information Institute, "28 U.S. Code § 45 - Chief judges; precedence of judges," accessed January 25, 2022
6. ↑ Cornell Law School Legal Information Institute, "28 U.S. Code § 171 - Appointment and number of judges; character of court; designation of chief judge," accessed January 25, 2022
7. ↑ United States Courts, "FAQs: Federal Judges," accessed May 5, 2021

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v • e

Special jurisdiction courts

Court of Appeals for the Armed Forces • Court of Appeals for Veterans Claims • Court of Federal Claims • Court of International Trade • Court of Military Commission Review • Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court • Tax Court

v • e

Federal judges who have served the United States Court of International Trade

|

Active judges|

Chief Judge: Mark A. Barnett • Gary Katzmann • Miller Baker • Claire R. Kelly • Jennifer Choe Groves • Timothy Reif • Stephen Vaden • Joseph Laroski • Lisa Wang

Senior judges|

Jane Restani • Judith Barzilay • Richard Eaton (Federal judge) • Leo Gordon • Delissa Ridgway • Timothy Stanceu • Thomas Aquilino • Richard Goldberg (Federal judge) •

Former Article III judges|  Susan Webber Wright • Gregory Carman (United States Court of International Trade) • Donald Pogue • Evan Wallach • R. Kenton Musgrave • Nicholas Tsoucalas • Dominick DiCarlo • Nils Boe • Morgan Ford • Frederick Landis • Herbert Maletz • Bernard Newman • Paul Rao • Edward Re • Scovel Richardson • Samuel Rosenstein • James Watson •
Former Chief judges|

Jane Restani • Gregory Carman (United States Court of International Trade) • Timothy Stanceu •