---
title: "Robert David Sack | KnowJudges"
canonical: "https://knowjudges.com/kyj/judge/robert-david-sack"
page_type: "judge_profile"
updated: "2026-10-07"
---

# Robert David Sack

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, Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit, 1998-2009
- Senior United States circuit judge on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit, appointed by President Bill Clinton in 1998 and still serving in senior status
- Law clerk, Hon. Arthur Lane, U.S. District Court, District of New Jersey, 1963-1964

### Education

- B.A. from the University of Rochester (1960) and an LL.B. from Columbia Law School (1963).

### Additional information

- Associate special counsel and senior associate special counsel, impeachment inquiry, U.S. House of Representatives Committee on the Judiciary, 1974-present
- Although on senior status, Judge Sack continues to hear cases, with recent opinions in 2025 including Ziparo v.
- Trump Corporation (2021), where he held that the Trump family was not entitled to enforce an arbitration agreement in a U.S. business practices suit.
- Senior status: August 6, 2009.
- Confirmed: June 15, 1998, by the U.S. Senate.
- Commissioned: June 16, 1998.
- He later partnered at Patterson, Belknap, Webb & Tyler (1964–1986) and Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher (1986–1998).
- Appointed: November 6, 1997, by President Clinton to replace Roger J. Miner.
- Associate and senior associate special counsel for the U.S. House Judiciary Committee’s impeachment inquiry into President Richard Nixon in 1974.
- Born October 4, 1939, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
- Date of birth: 1939-01-01
- Before joining the judiciary, Sack had a 33-year private practice in New York City, specializing in national and international press law.
- CSX Transportation and Gimpel v.
- Hain Celestial Group, Inc..
- Notable cases include Doe v.
- He clerked for U.S. District Judge Arthur S. Lane in the District of New Jersey after law school.
- During his tenure, he authored over 300 opinions and numerous concurrences and dissents.
- In summary: Robert David Sack is a distinguished jurist recognized for his expertise in press law, his extensive judicial career, and his contributions to legal scholarship and media freedom advocacy.
- Sack was raised in Brooklyn, New York, the son of Eugene Sack, a Reform rabbi for 35 years at Congregation Beth Elohim.
- Birth place: Philadelphia, PA

## 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/1390706)
- [Official roster](https://www.fjc.gov/node/1390706)
- [Federal Judicial Center biography](https://www.fjc.gov/node/1390706)
- [CourtListener judicial biographical directory](https://www.courtlistener.com/person/2823/robert-david-sack/)
- [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/2823/robert-david-sack/)

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