--- title: "Pamela Pepper | KnowJudges" canonical: "https://knowjudges.com/kyj/judge/pamela-pepper" page_type: "judge_profile" updated: "2026-10-09" --- # Pamela Pepper U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Wisconsin · Judge ## Profile - Court: U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Wisconsin - State: Wisconsin - Role: Judge - Service status: active - Last verified: 2026-07-25 ## Summary Official judge-specific and circuitwide procedural guidance has been located for this profile. ## Biography ### Professional career - The Chief Judge of the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Wisconsin, appointed in 2014 and serving since 2019 - Judge, District Court, E.D. Wisconsin, 2014-present - On May 1, 2014, President Barack Obama nominated Pepper to fill a vacancy on the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Wisconsin, created when Judge Charles N. Clevert Jr. took senior status - 2010–2014: Chief U.S. Bankruptcy Judge, Eastern District of Wisconsin - 2005–2014: U.S. Bankruptcy Judge, Eastern District of Wisconsin; also served in the Southern District of Illinois (2005–2009) - 1997–2005: Private criminal defense attorney in Milwaukee, WI - Assistant U.S. attorney, Eastern District of Wisconsin, 1994-1997 - Assistant U.S. attorney, Northern District of Illinois, 1990-1994 - Law clerk, Hon. Frank J. Johnson, Jr., U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit, 1989-1990 - 1989–1990: Law clerk to Hon. Frank M. Johnson, Jr., U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit ### Education - Cornell Law School in — J.D. (1989) - Northwestern University in — B.S. (1986) ### Additional information - She became Chief Judge in 2019. - She was confirmed by the Senate on November 20, 2014, by a unanimous vote of 95–0. - Private practice, Milwaukee, WI, 1997-2005 - She also holds a graduate certificate in dispute resolution from Marquette University (2003). - She is a 1982 graduate of Leland High School, one of the first racially integrated students in the city’s public schools. - Pamela Pepper was born in 1964 in New Orleans, Louisiana. - Date of birth: 1964-01-01 - As Chief Judge, Pepper presides over the Eastern District of Wisconsin’s federal court, which covers Milwaukee and surrounding areas. - Her office is located at the U.S. Courthouse, 517 East Wisconsin Avenue, Milwaukee, WI. - Birth place: New Orleans, LA ## 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 ### courtroom technology Scope: judge specific Judge-specific source Evidence excerpt: 8 document camera and video screens in the jury box and on counsel tables, etc. If you plan to use demonstrative exhibits or present evidence electronically at a hearing or trial, please contact my courtroom deputy, Justin Dreikosen, to schedule a time for you to come in and test the equipment in the courtroom to… [Tips%20for%20Parties%20Practicing%20Before%20Judge%20Pepper%20%28revised%20September%2029%2C%202025%29.pdf](https://www.wied.uscourts.gov/sites/wied/files/documents/Tips%20for%20Parties%20Practicing%20Before%20Judge%20Pepper%20%28revised%20September%2029%2C%202025%29.pdf) Source checked: 2026-07-24 ### 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/1394661) - [Official roster](https://www.fjc.gov/node/1394661) - [Federal Judicial Center biography](https://www.fjc.gov/node/1394661) - [CourtListener judicial biographical directory](https://www.courtlistener.com/person/2540/pamela-pepper/) - [Tips%20for%20Parties%20Practicing%20Before%20Judge%20Pepper%20%28revised%20September%2029%2C%202025%29.pdf](https://www.wied.uscourts.gov/sites/wied/files/documents/Tips%20for%20Parties%20Practicing%20Before%20Judge%20Pepper%20%28revised%20September%2029%2C%202025%29.pdf) - [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) - [CourtListener judicial biographical directory](https://www.courtlistener.com/person/2540/pamela-pepper/) - [Wikidata: Pamela Pepper](https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q16745455) ## JSON-LD ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "WebPage", "@id": "https://knowjudges.com/kyj/judge/pamela-pepper", "url": "https://knowjudges.com/kyj/judge/pamela-pepper", "name": "Pamela Pepper | KnowJudges", "description": "Pamela Pepper, U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Wisconsin. 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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.