--- title: "Stephanie Kulp Seymour | KnowJudges" canonical: "https://knowjudges.com/kyj/judge/stephanie-kulp-seymour" page_type: "judge_profile" updated: "2026-10-09" --- # Stephanie Kulp Seymour U.S. Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit · U.S. Circuit Judge ## Profile - Court: U.S. Court of Appeals for the Tenth 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 - The first female federal judge in Oklahoma and, in 2025, became the longest‐serving judge in Tenth Circuit history - Judge, Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit, 1979-2005 - Senior U.S. Circuit Judge of the Tenth Circuit, the first female federal judge in Oklahoma, and the longest‐serving judge in the court’s history - Chief Judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit - Senior Judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit ### Education - Harvard University — J.D. (1965) - B.A. from Smith College in 1962 (Phi Beta Kappa, magna cum laude) and a J.D. from Harvard Law School in 1965, graduating in a class of 23 women out of 550 students. ### Additional information - Retired from active duty: August 2025, after 46 years of service. - American Bar Association Commission on Women in the Profession, Women Trailblazers in the Law Oral History Project, Radcliffe College, Schlesinger Library on the History of Women, 2005-2013. - Senior Status: October 16, 2005. - Chief Judge: 1994–2000. - Member, Judicial Conference of the United States, 1994-2000 - Appointed: August 28, 1979, by President Jimmy Carter to a new seat on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit. - Confirmed: October 31, 1979; commissioned November 2, 1979. - Private practice, Tulsa, OK, 1971-1979 - Private practice, Tulsa, Oklahoma, 1966-1967, 1971-1979 - After law school, Seymour practiced law in Boston (1965–66), Tulsa, OK (1966–67), Houston, TX (1968–69), and Tulsa again (1971–79). - Private practice, Houston, TX, 1968-1969 - Private practice, Houston, Texas, 1968-1969 - Private practice, Tulsa, OK, 1966-1967 - Private practice, Boston, MA, 1965-1966 - Private practice, Boston, Massachusetts, 1965-1966 - Born October 16, 1940. - Date of birth: 1940-01-01 - In Houston, she was the first woman hired by Baker Botts. - Remembered for breaking barriers for women in the federal judiciary and for her contributions to constitutional and procedural law. - Her parents, neither of whom had a college education, strongly encouraged her to pursue the highest level of learning. - Her career spans over four decades of federal appellate service, including leadership as Chief Judge and a record‐setting tenure. - Seymour was born in Battle Creek, Michigan, the second of four children. - Seymour’s early life included extensive family travel, which exposed her to diverse perspectives, including the injustices of racial segregation in the American South. - She has been recognized for her trailblazing role for women in the judiciary. - Birth place: Battle Creek, MI ## 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/1387641) - [Official roster](https://www.fjc.gov/node/1387641) - [Federal Judicial Center biography](https://www.fjc.gov/node/1387641) - [CourtListener judicial biographical directory](https://www.courtlistener.com/person/2918/stephanie-kulp-seymour/) - [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/2918/stephanie-kulp-seymour/) - [Judge Stephanie Kulp Seymour](https://www.fjc.gov/node/1387641) - [Wikidata: Stephanie Kulp Seymour](https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q7608318) ## JSON-LD ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "WebPage", "@id": "https://knowjudges.com/kyj/judge/stephanie-kulp-seymour", "url": "https://knowjudges.com/kyj/judge/stephanie-kulp-seymour", "name": "Stephanie Kulp Seymour | KnowJudges", "description": "Stephanie Kulp Seymour, U.S. Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit. Source-linked judicial identity, courtroom procedures, and presentation guidance.", "dateModified": "2026-10-09", "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://knowjudges.com/#website" }, "mainEntity": { "@id": "https://knowjudges.com/kyj/judge/stephanie-kulp-seymour#judge" } }, { "@type": "Person", "@id": "https://knowjudges.com/kyj/judge/stephanie-kulp-seymour#judge", "name": "Stephanie Kulp Seymour", "url": "https://knowjudges.com/kyj/judge/stephanie-kulp-seymour", "jobTitle": "U.S. Circuit Judge", "worksFor": { "@type": "GovernmentOrganization", "name": "U.S. Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit" }, "sameAs": [ "https://www.fjc.gov/node/1387641", "https://www.courtlistener.com/person/2918/stephanie-kulp-seymour/" ], "birthDate": "1940", "birthPlace": "Battle Creek, MI", "alumniOf": [ { "@type": "EducationalOrganization", "name": "Smith College" }, { "@type": "EducationalOrganization", "name": "Harvard University" } ] }, { "@type": "BreadcrumbList", "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "name": "KnowJudges", "item": "https://knowjudges.com/kyj" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "name": "National federal courts", "item": "https://knowjudges.com/kyj/state/national-federal-courts" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "name": "Stephanie Kulp Seymour", "item": "https://knowjudges.com/kyj/judge/stephanie-kulp-seymour" } ] } ] } ```