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title: "Joshua Dale Dunlap | KnowJudges"
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# Joshua Dale Dunlap

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

## Profile

- Court: U.S. Court of Appeals for the First 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

- American judge serving on the United States Court of Appeals for the First Circuit since November 7, 2025
- On July 15, 2025, President Donald Trump nominated Dunlap to replace Judge William J. Kayatta Jr. on the First Circuit
- Law clerk, Hon. Paul J. Kelly, Jr., U.S. Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit, 2008-2009
- He clerked for Judge Paul J. Kelly Jr. on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit from 2008 to 2009
- As a First Circuit judge, Dunlap has authored opinions and sat on panels in cases such as United States v

### Education

- He received his Juris Doctor, summa cum laude, from Notre Dame Law School in 2008, where he received the Colonel William J. Hoynes Award and held the role of note editor for the Notre Dame Law Review.
- Bachelor of Arts, summa cum laude, from Pensacola Christian College in 2005.

### Additional information

- received his judicial commission on November 7, 2025.
- His nomination was heard by the Senate Judiciary Committee on July 30, 2025, advanced to the Senate on September 11, 2025, and cloture was invoked on October 30, 2025.
- Private practice, Portland, Maine, 2009-2025
- From 2009 to 2025, Dunlap practiced at Pierce Atwood LLP in Portland, Maine
- Promoted to partner in 2018.
- Born 1983 in Waterville, Maine.
- focusing on commercial litigation at both trial and appellate levels.
- representing pharmaceutical companies in opioid litigation, and handling various Maine consumer protection and campaign finance cases.
- Parsons, Bromfield v.
- Blanche, and Bangs v.
- Residence: Scarborough, Maine.
- His work included defending banks in overdraft fee class actions
- His judicial portfolio includes appellate review of federal and state law issues, with a focus on commercial, civil, and constitutional matters.

## 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/13762074)
- [Official roster](https://www.fjc.gov/node/13762074)
- [Federal Judicial Center biography](https://www.fjc.gov/node/13762074)
- [Federal Rule of Appellate Procedure 34, Oral Argument](https://www.uscourts.gov/forms-rules/current-rules-practice-procedure/federal-rules-appellate-procedure)
- [Judge Joshua Dale Dunlap](https://www.fjc.gov/node/13762074)

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