--- title: "Pierre Nelson Leval | KnowJudges" canonical: "https://knowjudges.com/kyj/judge/pierre-nelson-leval" page_type: "judge_profile" updated: "2026-10-09" --- # Pierre Nelson Leval U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit · U.S. Circuit Judge ## Profile - Court: U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit - State: National federal courts - Role: U.S. Circuit Judge - Service status: senior - Last verified: 2026-07-25 ## Summary Official statewide and applicable court procedural guidance applies to this judge. ## Biography ### Professional career - Judge, District Court, S.D. New York, 1977-1993 - Assistant district attorney, New York County, NY, 1975-1977 - Practiced law in New York City (1969–1975) and then worked for the New York County District Attorney’s Office as First Assistant DA (1975–1976) and Chief Assistant DA (1976–1977) - From 1964 to 1968, Leval was an Assistant U.S. Attorney in the Southern District of New York, later serving as Chief Appellate Attorney (1967–1968) - Law clerk, Hon. Henry J. Friendly, U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit, 1963-1964 - Served in the U.S. Army in 1959 and clerked for Judge Henry J. Friendly on the Second Circuit from 1963 to 1964 - Judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit ### Education - Harvard University — J.D. (1963) - Harvard University — B.A. (1959) ### Additional information - U.S. Army, 1959-present - He is also an Adjunct Faculty member of NYU School of Law and has served on the Federal Judicial Center board (2002–2006). - U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit — appointed by President Bill Clinton in 1993, assumed senior status in 2002. - Leval has received multiple honors, including the Learned Hand Medal (1997) and the Donald R. Brace Memorial Lectureship (1989). - U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York — appointed by President Jimmy Carter in 1977, served until 1993. - Private practice, New York City, 1969-1975 - Leval attended The Allen-Stevenson School, obtained a B.A. from Harvard College in 1959, and a J.D., magna cum laude, from Harvard Law School in 1963, where he was a Note Editor of the Harvard Law Review. - Date of birth: 1936-01-01 - His opinions are noted for their clarity, logical reasoning, and accessibility. - Birth place: New York, NY ## 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/1383841) - [Official roster](https://www.fjc.gov/node/1383841) - [Federal Judicial Center biography](https://www.fjc.gov/node/1383841) - [CourtListener judicial biographical directory](https://www.courtlistener.com/person/1916/pierre-nelson-leval/) - [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/1916/pierre-nelson-leval/) - [Judge Pierre Nelson Leval](https://www.fjc.gov/node/1383841) - [Wikidata: Pierre N. Leval](https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q7192376) ## JSON-LD ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "WebPage", "@id": "https://knowjudges.com/kyj/judge/pierre-nelson-leval", "url": "https://knowjudges.com/kyj/judge/pierre-nelson-leval", "name": "Pierre Nelson Leval | KnowJudges", "description": "Pierre Nelson Leval, U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit. 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