---
title: "Julie Rikelman | KnowJudges"
canonical: "https://knowjudges.com/kyj/judge/julie-rikelman"
page_type: "judge_profile"
updated: "2026-10-07"
---

# Julie Rikelman

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

- Julie G. Rikelman is a Ukrainian‐American lawyer and judge of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the First Circuit, appointed by President Joe Biden and confirmed by the Senate in June 2023
- Law clerk, Hon. Morton I. Greenberg, U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit, 1998-1999
- Rikelman clerked for Justice Dana A. Fabe of the Alaska Supreme Court (1997–1998) and Judge Morton I. Greenberg of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit (1998–1999)
- Law clerk, Hon. Dana A. Fabe, Alaska Supreme Court, 1997-1998
- Judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the First Circuit
- As a U.S. Circuit Judge for the First Circuit, Rikelman hears appeals from federal cases in Maine, New Hampshire, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, and parts of the U.S. Virgin Islands

### Education

- J.D. cum laude from Harvard Law School in 1997
- B.A. magna cum laude from Harvard College in 1993
- Harvard University — B.A. (1993)

### Additional information

- She assumed office June 23, 2023, succeeding Sandra Lynch.
- President Biden nominated Rikelman to the First Circuit on August 1, 2022; the Senate initially did not act, but she was renominated on January 3, 2023 and confirmed on June 20, 2023, by a 51–43 vote.
- Center for Reproductive Rights, New York City, 2011-2023; senior staff attorney, 2011-2012
- In 2011, she returned to the Center for Reproductive Rights, first as Senior Staff Attorney (2011–2012) and then as U.S. Litigation Director (2012–2023).
- NBC Universal, Inc., New York City, 2006-2011; litigation counsel, 2006-2008; senior litigation counsel, 2008-2011; vice president, litigation, 2011
- Private practice, New York City, 2004-2006
- Private practice, Anchorage, Alaska, 2001-2004
- Blackmun Fellow, Center for Reproductive Rights, New York City, 1999-2001
- Blackmun Fellow at the Center for Reproductive Rights (1999–2001) and later worked in private practice in Alaska and New York.
- Julie Rikelman was born June 16, 1972, in Kyiv, Ukraine, to Jewish parents, and immigrated to the U.S. in 1979.
- Date of birth: 1972-06-16
- Official site: First Circuit – Julie Rikelman.
- Birth place: Kyiv

## 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/13718106)
- [Official roster](https://www.fjc.gov/node/13718106)
- [Federal Judicial Center biography](https://www.fjc.gov/node/13718106)
- [Federal Rule of Appellate Procedure 34, Oral Argument](https://www.uscourts.gov/forms-rules/current-rules-practice-procedure/federal-rules-appellate-procedure)
- [Judge Julie Rikelman](https://www.fjc.gov/node/13718106)
- [Wikidata: Julie Rikelman](https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q113339650)

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