---
title: "Cindy Kyounga Chung | KnowJudges"
canonical: "https://knowjudges.com/kyj/judge/cindy-kyounga-chung"
page_type: "judge_profile"
updated: "2026-10-07"
---

# Cindy Kyounga Chung

U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit · U.S. Circuit Judge

## Profile

- Court: U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit
- State: National federal courts
- Role: U.S. Circuit Judge
- Service status: active
- Last verified: 2026-07-25

## Summary

Official statewide and applicable court procedural guidance applies to this judge.

## Biography

### Professional career

- U.S. attorney for the Western District of Pennsylvania, 2021-2023
- Adjunct professor, University of Pittsburgh School of Law, 2021
- 2014–2021: Assistant U.S. Attorney, Western District of PA
- Assistant U.S. attorney, Western District of Pennsylvania, 2014-2021; acting deputy chief, Violent Crimes Section, 2015-2017 (intermittently); deputy chief, Major Crimes Section, 2018-2020
- Trial attorney, Criminal Section, Civil Rights Division, U.S. Department of Justice, 2009-2014
- 2003–2009: Assistant District Attorney, New York County, NY; later Investigation Counsel, Official Corruption Unit
- District attorney's office, New York County, New York, 2003-2009; assistant district attorney, Trial Bureau 50, 2003-2007; investigation counsel, Official Corruption Unit, 2007-2009
- Early career: Law clerk to Judge Myron H. Thompson, U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Alabama (2002–2003)
- American jurist and the first Asian American judge to serve on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit
- Judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit
- Chung’s appointment marks a historic milestone as the first Asian American judge on the Third Circuit
- Her career reflects deep experience in federal prosecution, civil rights enforcement, and leadership in a U.S. Attorney’s Office

### Education

- B.A. in 1997, Yale University J.D. in 2002, Columbia Law School (Harlan Fiske Stone Scholar, Columbia Public Interest Fellow)

### Additional information

- Appointed by President Joe Biden in 2023 and confirmed by the Senate on February 13, 2023, with her commission issued on February 21, 2023.
- Commissioned: February 21, 2023.
- Confirmed: February 13, 2023, by a 50–44 Senate vote.
- Nominated: July 12, 2022, to replace Judge D. Brooks Smith.
- 2009–2014: Trial Attorney, Criminal Section, DOJ Civil Rights Division, prosecuting civil rights violations including hate crimes.
- Born: 1975, Omaha, Nebraska, USA
- Date of birth: 1975
- Deputy Chief, Major Crimes Division.
- Ethnicity: Korean American
- Birth place: Omaha

## Before you appear

- Read the judge-specific standing order first when one is listed.
- Check the docket and case orders for requirements that supersede broader guidance.
- Confirm current remote-access and courtroom technology arrangements before the proceeding.

## Courtroom Rules

### appellate oral argument

Scope: courtwide

In federal courts of appeals, oral argument is allowed unless a three-judge panel unanimously finds one of Rule 34's specified grounds for dispensing with it; the clerk provides the date, time, place, and time allocation.

Evidence excerpt: Oral argument must be allowed in every case unless a panel of three judges who have examined the briefs and record unanimously agrees that oral argument is unnecessary

[Federal Rule of Appellate Procedure 34, Oral Argument](https://www.uscourts.gov/forms-rules/current-rules-practice-procedure/federal-rules-appellate-procedure)
Source checked: 2026-07-26


## Sources

- [Official profile](https://www.fjc.gov/node/13257261)
- [Official roster](https://www.fjc.gov/node/13257261)
- [Federal Judicial Center biography](https://www.fjc.gov/node/13257261)
- [Federal Rule of Appellate Procedure 34, Oral Argument](https://www.uscourts.gov/forms-rules/current-rules-practice-procedure/federal-rules-appellate-procedure)
- [Judge Cindy Kyounga Chung](https://www.fjc.gov/node/13257261)
- [Wikidata: Cindy K. Chung](https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q109289200)

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