--- title: "Doris Lenea Pryor | KnowJudges" canonical: "https://knowjudges.com/kyj/judge/doris-lenea-pryor" page_type: "judge_profile" updated: "2026-10-07" --- # Doris Lenea Pryor U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit · U.S. Circuit Judge ## Profile - Court: U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh 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 - Federal Judicial Service: Magistrate Judge (2018–2022), Seventh Circuit Judge (2022–present) - Doris Lenea Pryor (née Clark, born 1977 in Hope, Arkansas) is an American judge serving on the United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit since December 9, 2022 - U.S. Magistrate Judge for the Southern District of Indiana (2018–2022) - Assistant U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of Indiana (2006–2018), including as National Security Chief (2014–2018) - Adjunct professor, Indiana University McKinney School of Law, 2015 - Deputy public defender, Miller County, Arkansas, 2005-2006 - Law clerk, Hon. J. Leon Holmes, U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Arkansas, 2004-2005 - Law clerk to Judge James Leon Holmes, E.D. Arkansas (2004–2005) - Law clerk, Hon. Lavenski R. Smith, U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit, 2003-2004 - Law clerk to Chief Judge Lavenski R. Smith, 8th Circuit (2003–2004) ### Education - Indiana University School of Law -- Bloomington (now Maurer School of Law) — J.D. (2003) - She later earned her Juris Doctor from Indiana University Maurer School of Law in 2003, where she edited the Federal Communications Law Journal and won the top oralist award in the Sherman Minton Moot Court Competition. ### Additional information - Magistrate, District Court, S.D. Indiana, 2018-present - 4, 2026) and Lawrence Burns v. - On May 25, 2022, President Joe Biden nominated Pryor to replace Judge David Frank Hamilton, who was assuming senior status. - Confirmed by the Senate 60–31 on December 5, 2022, and commissioned on December 9, 2022. - Instructor, Indiana University Maurer School of Law, 2016, 2017, 2019, 2022 - Pryor was born in 1977 in Hope, Arkansas, and graduated cum laude from the University of Central Arkansas in 1999 with a Bachelor of Science. - Date of birth: 1977 - As a Seventh Circuit judge, Pryor has authored and participated in numerous appellate opinions, including United States v. - The first woman of color from Indiana to sit on the Seventh Circuit. ## 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/12905966) - [Official roster](https://www.fjc.gov/node/12905966) - [Federal Judicial Center biography](https://www.fjc.gov/node/12905966) - [CourtListener judicial biographical directory](https://www.courtlistener.com/person/9252/doris-l-pryor/) - [Federal Rule of Appellate Procedure 34, Oral Argument](https://www.uscourts.gov/forms-rules/current-rules-practice-procedure/federal-rules-appellate-procedure) - [CourtListener judicial biographical directory](https://www.courtlistener.com/person/9252/doris-l-pryor/) - [Judge Doris Lenea Pryor](https://www.fjc.gov/node/12905966) - [Wikidata: Doris Pryor](https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q112130346) ## JSON-LD ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "WebPage", "@id": "https://knowjudges.com/kyj/judge/doris-lenea-pryor", "url": "https://knowjudges.com/kyj/judge/doris-lenea-pryor", "name": "Doris Lenea Pryor | KnowJudges", "description": "Doris Lenea Pryor, U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit. 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