--- title: "Joan Louise Larsen | KnowJudges" canonical: "https://knowjudges.com/kyj/judge/joan-louise-larsen" page_type: "judge_profile" updated: "2026-10-07" --- # Joan Louise Larsen U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit · U.S. Circuit Judge ## Profile - Court: U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth 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, Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit, 2017-present - adjunct professor of law, 2015-present - Visiting assistant professor, University of Iowa College of Law, 2006-present - Visiting assistant professor, Northwestern University School of Law, 1998-present - Justice, Michigan Supreme Court, 2015-2017 - On October 1, 2015, Governor Rick Snyder appointed Larsen to the Michigan Supreme Court, replacing Justice Mary Beth Kelly - Deputy assistant attorney general, U.S. Department of Justice, 2002-2003 - visiting professor of law, 1998-2001 - Law Clerk, Supreme Court of the United States, 1994-1995 - Law Clerk, Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit, 1993-1994 - Judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit - Afterward, she worked in private practice in Washington, D.C., and later joined the University of Michigan Law School faculty - She clerked for Judge David B. Sentelle of the D.C. Circuit and Justice Antonin Scalia of the U.S. Supreme Court ### Education - Larsen earned her B.A. with highest honors from the University of Northern Iowa in 1990 and her J.D. from Northwestern University School of Law (now Pritzker School of Law) in 1993, graduating first in her class. ### Additional information - University of Michigan Law School, 2003-present - Elected in 2016 to serve the remainder of Kelly’s term through 2018. - President Trump nominated Larsen to the Sixth Circuit in 2017, succeeding David McKeague. - Also on Trump’s 2016 list of potential Supreme Court nominees. - special counseland lecturer in law, 2003-2015 - University of Michigan Law School, 1998-2001 - Private practice, Washington, D.C., 1995-1997 - Date of birth: 1968-01-01 - The Senate confirmed her 60–38. - Recognized by the American Bar Association as “Well Qualified”. - She held the role of articles editor of the Northwestern University Law Review - received the John Paul Stevens Award for Academic Excellence. - Birth place: Waterloo/Cedar Falls, IA ## 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/3984221) - [Official roster](https://www.fjc.gov/node/3984221) - [Federal Judicial Center biography](https://www.fjc.gov/node/3984221) - [CourtListener judicial biographical directory](https://www.courtlistener.com/person/8596/joan-louise-larsen/) - [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/8596/joan-louise-larsen/) - [Wikidata: Joan Larsen](https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q21933697) ## JSON-LD ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "WebPage", "@id": "https://knowjudges.com/kyj/judge/joan-louise-larsen", "url": "https://knowjudges.com/kyj/judge/joan-louise-larsen", "name": "Joan Louise Larsen | KnowJudges", "description": "Joan Louise Larsen, U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit. 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