--- title: "Pamela Ann Harris | KnowJudges" canonical: "https://knowjudges.com/kyj/judge/pamela-ann-harris" page_type: "judge_profile" updated: "2026-10-09" --- # Pamela Ann Harris U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit · U.S. Circuit Judge ## Profile - Court: U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth 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 Fourth Circuit, 2014-present - American federal judge serving on the United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit since July 29, 2014 - In summary: Pamela Ann Harris is a highly experienced jurist with a background in academia, government legal counsel, and appellate litigation, now serving on the Fourth Circuit since 2014 - Visiting professor, Georgetown University Law Center, 2012-2014 - Principal deputy assistant attorney general, Office of Legal Policy, U.S. Department of Justice, 2010-2012 - Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General, Office of Legal Policy, DOJ, 2010–2012 - executive director, Supreme Court Institute, 2009-2010 - Visiting professor, Georgetown University Law Center, 2007-2010 - Partner, O’Melveny & Myers LLP, Washington, D.C., 1999–2009 - Associate professor, University of Pennsylvania Law School, 1996-1999 - Attorney-advisor, Office of Legal Counsel, U.S. Department of Justice, 1993-1996 - Law clerk, Hon. John Paul Stevens, Supreme Court of the United States, 1992-1993 - Law clerk to Justice John Paul Stevens, U.S. Supreme Court, 1992–1993 - Associate, Shea & Gardner (now Goodwin Procter LLP), Washington, D.C., 1991–1992 - Law clerk, Hon. Harry T. Edwards, U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit, 1990-1991 - Law clerk to Hon. Harry T. Edwards, U.S. Court of Appeals for D.C., 1990–1991 - As a Fourth Circuit judge, Harris has authored and participated in numerous appellate opinions, covering areas such as civil rights, criminal procedure, and administrative law - Co-director, Harvard Law School’s Supreme Court and Appellate Practice Clinic; visiting professor at Georgetown University Law Center - Executive Director, Georgetown’s Supreme Court Institute ### Education - Yale University — J.D. (1990) - Yale Law School — J.D. (1990) - Yale University — B.A. (1985) - (summa cum laude), Yale College — B.A. (1985) ### Additional information - Nominated: May 8, 2014, by President Barack Obama to replace Judge Andre M. Davis, who assumed senior status on February 28, 2014. - Commissioned: July 29, 2014. - Senate confirmation: July 28, 2014, by a 50–43 vote. - Private practice, Washington, D.C., 1999-2009 - Private practice, Washington, D.C., 1991-1992 - Born September 23, 1962, Hartford, Connecticut. - Date of birth: 1962-01-01 - ABA rating: Unanimously Well Qualified. - Recent cases include Alyse Sanchez v. - Markwayne Mullin and Kadiatou Keita v. - Todd Blanche. - Walt Whitman High School - Married to Austin Schlick, former FCC General Counsel. - Born in Hartford, CT; educated in Bethesda, MD. - Birth place: Hartford, CT ## 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/1394626) - [Official roster](https://www.fjc.gov/node/1394626) - [Federal Judicial Center biography](https://www.fjc.gov/node/1394626) - [CourtListener judicial biographical directory](https://www.courtlistener.com/person/1376/pamela-ann-harris/) - [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/1376/pamela-ann-harris/) - [Wikidata: Pamela Harris](https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q16841337) ## JSON-LD ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "WebPage", "@id": "https://knowjudges.com/kyj/judge/pamela-ann-harris", "url": "https://knowjudges.com/kyj/judge/pamela-ann-harris", "name": "Pamela Ann Harris | KnowJudges", "description": "Pamela Ann Harris, U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit. 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