---
title: "Gerald Bard Tjoflat | KnowJudges"
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# Gerald Bard Tjoflat

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

## Profile

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

## Summary

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

## Biography

### Professional career

- Judge, Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit, 1981-present
- When the Fifth Circuit was split in 1981, Tjoflat was reassigned to the newly created Eleventh Circuit, serving as Chief Judge from 1989 to 1996
- Judge, District Court, M.D. Florida, 1970-1975
- Judge, Circuit Court of Florida, Fourth Judicial Circuit, 1968-1970
- Judge, District Court of Appeal of Florida, 1968-1970
- Judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit
- Chief Judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit
- Senior Judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit

### Education

- Duke University — LL.B. (1957)
- Duke University — J.D.
- Financial constraints led him to transfer to the University of Cincinnati, where he completed his undergraduate degree.

### Additional information

- He has been recognized for his diligence, fairness, and leadership, with a courtroom in Jacksonville named in his honor in 2022.
- He assumed senior status in 2019 but continues to hear cases and author opinions, making him one of the longest-serving federal appellate judges in U.S. history.
- In 1975, President Gerald Ford appointed him to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit.
- Nominated by President Richard Nixon to the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Florida in 1970, confirmed by the Senate, and served until 1975.
- Duval County School Board (1971), a landmark desegregation case in Jacksonville, implementing immediate integration through student reassignment and busing, despite facing death threats and public backlash.
- In 1968, he was appointed by Governor Claude Kirk to the Fourth Judicial Circuit of Florida, later winning election to a full term without opposition.
- Private practice, Jacksonville, FL, 1957-1968
- After law school, Tjoflat practiced privately in Jacksonville, Florida, from 1957 to 1968
- After military service, he completed his law degree at Duke University School of Law in 1957, serving on the editorial board of the Duke Law Journal.
- Drafted into the U.S. Army during the Korean War, he served in the Counterintelligence Corps until 1955, attaining the rank of corporal.
- U.S. Army corporal, 1953-1955
- Gerald Bard Tjoflat was born on December 6, 1929, in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, to a Chilean mother and a second-generation Norwegian-American father.
- Date of birth: 1929-12-06
- handling civil and criminal litigation, including white-collar crime, antitrust, insurance, tax, and labor matters.
- During this period, he presided over Mims v.
- Judge Tjoflat has authored approximately 4,000 opinions and contributed extensively to federal criminal justice administration, including long-term service on the Judicial Conference Committee on the Administration of the Probation System.
- He grew up during the Great Depression, working summers on dairy farms in Wisconsin to support his family.
- Despite being born with severe club feet, he became an accomplished athlete, excelling in baseball and receiving a partial scholarship to the University of Virginia.
- He is also a lifelong supporter of Duke University and its law school, maintaining strong ties with alumni and students.
- Birth place: Pittsburgh, PA

## 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/1388841)
- [Official roster](https://www.fjc.gov/node/1388841)
- [Federal Judicial Center biography](https://www.fjc.gov/node/1388841)
- [CourtListener judicial biographical directory](https://www.courtlistener.com/person/3237/gerald-bard-tjoflat/)
- [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/3237/gerald-bard-tjoflat/)
- [Wikidata: Gerald Bard Tjoflat](https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q16091337)

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