---
title: "Richard Lowell Nygaard | KnowJudges"
canonical: "https://knowjudges.com/kyj/judge/richard-lowell-nygaard"
page_type: "judge_profile"
updated: "2026-10-09"
---

# Richard Lowell Nygaard

U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit · U.S. Circuit Judge

## Profile

- Court: U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third 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

- Since July 9, 2005: Senior Judge on the Third Circuit
- Current Role: Senior Judge, U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit (since 2005)
- 1988–2005: Judge, U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit, appointed by President Ronald Reagan on May 25, 1988, confirmed by the Senate on October 14, 1988, and commissioned October 17, 1988
- 1981–1988: Judge, Court of Common Pleas, Sixth District of Pennsylvania (Erie County)
- American federal judge serving on senior status with the United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit

### Education

- University of Michigan Law School in — J.D. (1971)
- Bachelor of Science degree cum laude from the University of Southern California in 1969

### Additional information

- Federal judicial service: 1988–present (senior status since 2005)
- Francis (Decided June 13, 2025).
- In 2017, he partially dissented in a case granting qualified immunity to police officers who prevented bystanders from recording them.
- In June 2016, he was ordained as a deacon in the Episcopal Church.
- In 2013, the rotunda of the federal courthouse in Erie, Pennsylvania, was named in his honor.
- Private practice, North East, PA, 1972-1980
- Private practice, North East, Pennsylvania, 1972-1980
- He also held the role of a Petty Officer Second Class in the U.S. Naval Reserve from 1958 to 1964.
- Born July 9, 1940, Thief River Falls, Minnesota.
- Date of birth: 1940-01-01
- Nygaard has authored and participated in numerous appellate opinions, including cases on First Amendment rights, qualified immunity, and corporate law.
- He succeeded Joseph F. Weis Jr. and was succeeded by Thomas Hardiman.
- His recent panel work includes Michael Gorrio v.
- Birth place: Thief River Falls, MN

## 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/1385861)
- [Official roster](https://www.fjc.gov/node/1385861)
- [Federal Judicial Center biography](https://www.fjc.gov/node/1385861)
- [CourtListener judicial biographical directory](https://www.courtlistener.com/person/2439/richard-lowell-nygaard/)
- [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/2439/richard-lowell-nygaard/)
- [Judge Richard Lowell Nygaard](https://www.fjc.gov/node/1385861)
- [Wikidata: Richard Lowell Nygaard](https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q7327476)

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