--- title: "Lee Philip Rudofsky | KnowJudges" canonical: "https://knowjudges.com/kyj/judge/lee-philip-rudofsky" page_type: "judge_profile" updated: "2026-10-09" --- # Lee Philip Rudofsky U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Arkansas · Judge ## Profile - Court: U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Arkansas - State: Arkansas - Role: Judge - Service status: active - Last verified: 2026-07-25 ## Summary Official statewide and applicable court procedural guidance applies to this judge. ## Biography ### Professional career - Lee Philip Rudofsky is an American judge born in 1979 in New York City, currently serving as a U.S. District Judge for the Eastern District of Arkansas and nominated in August 2026 by President Donald Trump to a seat on - Adjunct professor, George Mason University School of Law (now Antonin Scalia Law School),2009 - Law clerk, Hon. Andrew Kleinfeld, U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit, 2006-2007 - Law clerk, Hon. Robert Cordy, Supreme Judicial Court of Massachusetts, 2005-2006 - He clerked for Justice Robert J. Cordy of the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court - As a district judge, he has issued rulings narrowing the scope of the Voting Rights Act and dismissing cases on technical grounds, which civil rights groups have criticized as weakening protections Arkansas Advocate ### Education - Harvard Law School — J.D. (2005) - B.S. and M.P.A. from Cornell University (2001, 2002) ### Additional information - Appointed by President Trump in 2019 to replace James Leon Holmes, Rudofsky was confirmed by the Senate on November 7, 2019. - Walmart, Bentonville, Arkansas, 2014-2015,2018-2019; assistant general counsel, 2014-2015; senior director, Global Anti-Corruption Compliance Team, 2018-2019 - Solicitor general, State of Arkansas, 2015-2018 - Private practice, Washington, D.C., 2007-2009, 2010-2012, 2013-2014 - Deputy general counsel and director of legal election day operations, Mitt Romney for President, 2012 - Deputy general counsel and acting general counsel, Steve Polzner for Governor, Sacramento, California, 2010 - Private practice, Fairbanks, Alaska, 2009 - Date of birth: 1979 - He also ruled on challenges to Arkansas laws, including a ban on “indoctrination” in public schools Arkansas Advocate. - Birth place: New York City ## 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 ### civil remote testimony Scope: courtwide In federal district-court civil proceedings, testimony is ordinarily taken in open court; remote contemporaneous testimony requires good cause in compelling circumstances and appropriate safeguards. Evidence excerpt: For good cause in compelling circumstances and with appropriate safeguards, the court may permit testimony in open court by contemporaneous transmission from a different location. [Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 43(a), Testimony in Open Court](https://www.uscourts.gov/forms-rules/current-rules-practice-procedure/federal-rules-civil-procedure) Source checked: 2026-07-26 ### criminal recording and broadcasting Scope: courtwide Federal district courts may not permit courtroom photography or broadcasting during criminal judicial proceedings unless a statute or another federal rule provides an exception. Evidence excerpt: Except as otherwise provided by a statute or these rules, the court must not permit the taking of photographs in the courtroom during judicial proceedings or the broadcasting of judicial proceedings from the courtroom. [Federal Rule of Criminal Procedure 53, Courtroom Photographing and Broadcasting Prohibited](https://www.uscourts.gov/court-records/access-court-proceedings/remote-public-access-proceedings/history-cameras-broadcasting-and-remote-public-access-courts) Source checked: 2026-07-26 ## Sources - [Official profile](https://www.fjc.gov/node/7330446) - [Official roster](https://www.fjc.gov/node/7330446) - [Federal Judicial Center biography](https://www.fjc.gov/node/7330446) - [Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 43(a), Testimony in Open Court](https://www.uscourts.gov/forms-rules/current-rules-practice-procedure/federal-rules-civil-procedure) - [Federal Rule of Criminal Procedure 53, Courtroom Photographing and Broadcasting Prohibited](https://www.uscourts.gov/court-records/access-court-proceedings/remote-public-access-proceedings/history-cameras-broadcasting-and-remote-public-access-courts) - [Judge Lee Philip Rudofsky](https://www.fjc.gov/node/7330446) - [Wikidata: Lee Rudofsky](https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q65030853) ## JSON-LD ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "WebPage", "@id": "https://knowjudges.com/kyj/judge/lee-philip-rudofsky", "url": "https://knowjudges.com/kyj/judge/lee-philip-rudofsky", "name": "Lee Philip Rudofsky | KnowJudges", "description": "Lee Philip Rudofsky, U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Arkansas. 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Section-specific exceptions, waivers, later amendments and case orders remain applicable. This is a source excerpt, not an exhaustive statement of the rule. [Official source](https://www.uscourts.gov/sites/default/files/document/federal-rules-of-civil-procedure.pdf). Collected 2026-10-27. - [Federal Rules of Criminal Procedure, December 1, 2025](https://knowjudges.com/courtroom-rules/national-shared-set-8721a344fececced2257fe1d) — Criminal proceedings in United States District Courts; this conservative mapping does not distribute appellate-specific provisions to appellate judges. Section-specific exceptions, waivers, later amendments and case orders remain applicable. This is a source excerpt, not an exhaustive statement of the rule. [Official source](https://www.uscourts.gov/sites/default/files/document/federal-rules-of-criminal-procedure.pdf). Collected 2026-10-27.