---
title: "Cornelia Thayer Livingston Pillard | KnowJudges"
canonical: "https://knowjudges.com/kyj/judge/cornelia-thayer-livingston-pillard"
page_type: "judge_profile"
updated: "2026-10-09"
---

# Cornelia Thayer Livingston Pillard

U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit · U.S. Circuit Judge

## Profile

- Court: U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia 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

- Judge, U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit, 2013-present
- American lawyer and jurist serving since December 17, 2013 as a judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit
- Deputy assistant attorney general, Office of Legal Counsel, U.S. Department of Justice, 1998-2000
- Deputy Assistant Attorney General, Office of Legal Counsel, DOJ, 1998–2000
- Assistant to the solicitor general, U.S. Department of Justice, 1994-1997
- Assistant counsel, NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund, New York City, 1989-1994
- Law clerk, Hon. Louis H. Pollak, U.S. District Court, Eastern District of Pennsylvania, 1987-1988
- Law clerk to Judge Louis H. Pollak (U.S. District Court, E.D. Pa.), 1987–1988
- Judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit

### Education

- Harvard University — J.D. (1987)
- She graduated from the Commonwealth School in 1978, obtained a B.A. in history from Yale University in 1983 (magna cum laude), and later attended Harvard Law School, where she edited the Harvard Law Review.
- Yale College

### Additional information

- professor, 2005-2013
- Faculty, Georgetown University Law Center, 2000-2013
- associate professor, 2000-2005
- Faculty, Georgetown University Law Center, 1997-1998
- associate professor, 1997-1998
- Marvin M. Karpatkin fellow, American Civil Liberties Union, New York City, 1988-1989
- J.D. in 1987 (magna cum laude).
- Born 1961 in Cambridge, Massachusetts.
- Pillard was born in 1961 to Richard Pillard, the first openly gay psychiatrist in the U.S., and her mother, a professor of English.
- Date of birth: 1961-01-01
- Birth place: Cambridge, MA

## 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/1394316)
- [Official roster](https://www.fjc.gov/node/1394316)
- [Federal Judicial Center biography](https://www.fjc.gov/node/1394316)
- [CourtListener judicial biographical directory](https://www.courtlistener.com/person/2569/cornelia-thayer-livingston-pillard/)
- [Federal Rule of Appellate Procedure 34, Oral Argument](https://www.uscourts.gov/forms-rules/current-rules-practice-procedure/federal-rules-appellate-procedure)
- [Federal Judicial Center: D.C. Circuit judicial service](https://www.fjc.gov/node/1394316)
- [CourtListener judicial biographical directory](https://www.courtlistener.com/person/2569/cornelia-thayer-livingston-pillard/)
- [Wikidata: Nina Pillard](https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q13561608)

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