--- title: "Robert James Shelby | KnowJudges" canonical: "https://knowjudges.com/kyj/judge/robert-j-shelby" page_type: "judge_profile" updated: "2026-10-09" --- # Robert James Shelby U.S. District Court for the District of Utah · Judge ## Profile - Court: U.S. District Court for the District of Utah - State: Utah - Role: 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, District Court, D. Utah, 2012-present - American attorney and judge who serves on the United States District Court for the District of Utah and was Chief Judge from 2018 to 2025 - Shareholder at Snow, Christensen & Martineau (2011–2012) - Partner at Burbridge, Mitchell & Gross (2005–2011) - Associate at Snow, Christensen & Martineau (2000–2005) - Law clerk to Hon. J. Thomas Greene Jr., U.S. District Court for the District of Utah (1999–2000) - Official court contact: Judge Robert J. Shelby, 351 S. West Temple, Room 10.100, Salt Lake City, UT 84101 ### Education - B.A. — Utah State University and his J.D. in 1998 from the University of Virginia School of Law (1994) ### Additional information - Herbert (2013), Judge Shelby struck down Utah’s ban on same-sex marriage, ruling it unconstitutional. - Confirmed by the U.S. Senate on September 22, 2012, and commissioned September 25, 2012 - Private practice, Salt Lake City, UT, 2000-2012 - Nominated by President Barack Obama on November 30, 2011, to replace Judge Tena Campbell - Instructor, University of Utah, 2000-2004 - Before his judicial career, he served in the Utah Army National Guard’s 19th Special Forces Group from 1988 to 1996, including active duty during Operation Desert Storm in 1991, and was honorably discharged as a Specialist 4. - Born March 13, 1970, Fort Atkinson, Wisconsin. - Date of birth: 1970-01-01 - Registered Republican. - In Kitchen v. - Shelby has been active in the Salt Lake County Bar Association and served on the Utah Supreme Court’s Advisory Committee on Rules of Civil Procedure and its Ethics and Discipline Committee. - His practice focused on complex commercial litigation and catastrophic personal injury cases. - Birth place: Fort Atkinson, WI ## 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: courtwide Courtwide presentation-related guidance applies to this judge. Evidence excerpt: Video Presentation 1 – Allows a personal laptop to be connected to the courtroom video and sound system. Can be used for Power Point Presentations, showing video and evidentiary documents throughout the courtroom monitors. . [Courtroom Technology Information | District of Utah | United States District Court](https://www.utd.uscourts.gov/courtroom-technology-information) 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/1394051) - [Official roster](https://www.fjc.gov/node/1394051) - [Federal Judicial Center biography](https://www.fjc.gov/node/1394051) - [CourtListener judicial biographical directory](https://www.courtlistener.com/person/2942/robert-james-shelby/) - [Courtroom Technology Information | District of Utah | United States District Court](https://www.utd.uscourts.gov/courtroom-technology-information) - [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/2942/robert-james-shelby/) - [Wikidata: Robert J. Shelby](https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q7345977) ## JSON-LD ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "WebPage", "@id": "https://knowjudges.com/kyj/judge/robert-j-shelby", "url": "https://knowjudges.com/kyj/judge/robert-j-shelby", "name": "Robert James Shelby | KnowJudges", "description": "Robert James Shelby, U.S. District Court for the District of Utah. 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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.