--- title: "Robert Leon Wilkins | KnowJudges" canonical: "https://knowjudges.com/kyj/judge/robert-leon-wilkins" page_type: "judge_profile" updated: "2026-10-09" --- # Robert Leon Wilkins U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit · U.S. Circuit Judge ## Profile - Court: U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit - State: National federal courts - Role: U.S. Circuit 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, U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit, 2014-present - Judge, District Court, District of Columbia, 2010-2014 - He previously held the role of a U.S. District Judge for the District of Columbia from December 27, 2010, to January 24, 2014 - Public Defender Service for the District of Columbia, 1990-2001 - Law clerk, Hon. Earl B. Gilliam, U.S. District Court, Southern District of California, 1989-1990 - held the role of a law clerk to Judge Earl B. Gilliam (S.D. Cal.) (1989–1990) - American lawyer and jurist currently serving as a judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit - Judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit ### Education - Harvard University — J.D. (1989) - Harvard Law School — Executive Editor of the Harvard Civil Rights–Civil Liberties Law Review — J.D. (1989) - in Chemical Engineering, Rose–Hulman Institute of Technology — B.S. (1986) ### Additional information - contract attorney, 2001-present - Recipient of the Harvard Law School Association Award (2019) and the Washington Bar Association Charles Hamilton Houston Medallion of Merit (2019) - Appointed to the D.C. Circuit by President Barack Obama on January 15, 2014, after being nominated in 2013 and confirmed by the Senate 55–43. - Private practice, Washington, D.C., 2001-2011 - Listed among the Legal Times’ “90 Greatest Washington Lawyers of the Last 30 Years” (2008) - Named one of the National Law Journal’s “40 under 40 most successful young litigators” (2002) - chief, special litigation, 1995-2000 - staff attorney, 1990-1995 - Born October 2, 1963, in Muncie, Indiana. - Date of birth: 1963-01-01 - As a D.C. Circuit judge, Wilkins has authored and participated in numerous appellate opinions, including cases on voting rights, consumer protection, and administrative law. - His judicial work often addresses civil rights, constitutional law, and public policy issues. ## 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/1393586) - [Official roster](https://www.fjc.gov/node/1393586) - [Federal Judicial Center biography](https://www.fjc.gov/node/1393586) - [CourtListener judicial biographical directory](https://www.courtlistener.com/person/3473/robert-leon-wilkins/) - [Federal Rule of Appellate Procedure 34, Oral Argument](https://www.uscourts.gov/forms-rules/current-rules-practice-procedure/federal-rules-appellate-procedure) - [Federal Judicial Center: D.C. Circuit judicial service](https://www.fjc.gov/node/1393586) - [CourtListener judicial biographical directory](https://www.courtlistener.com/person/3473/robert-leon-wilkins/) - [Wikidata: Robert L. Wilkins](https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q7346667) ## JSON-LD ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "WebPage", "@id": "https://knowjudges.com/kyj/judge/robert-leon-wilkins", "url": "https://knowjudges.com/kyj/judge/robert-leon-wilkins", "name": "Robert Leon Wilkins | KnowJudges", "description": "Robert Leon Wilkins, U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit. 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