--- title: "Whitney Downs Hermandorfer | KnowJudges" canonical: "https://knowjudges.com/kyj/judge/whitney-downs-hermandorfer" page_type: "judge_profile" updated: "2026-10-07" --- # Whitney Downs Hermandorfer U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit · U.S. Circuit Judge ## Profile - Court: U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth 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 - In summary: Whitney Downs Hermandorfer is a highly credentialed attorney with extensive appellate and Supreme Court clerkship experience, now serving as a federal appellate judge on the Sixth Circuit since July 2025 - Whitney D. Hermandorfer (née Downs) is an American judge serving on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit, appointed by President Donald Trump in July 2025 - On May 12, 2025, President Trump nominated Hermandorfer to fill the Sixth Circuit seat vacated by Judge Jane Branstetter Stranch - Office of the Attorney General and Reporter, State of Tennessee, 2023-2025; assistant solicitor general, 2023-2024; director, Strategic Litigation Unit, 2023-2025 - Director of the Strategic Litigation Unit in the Tennessee Attorney General’s Office, leading constitutional, statutory, and administrative law challenges to federal agency action — 2023–2025 - Adjunct professor, George Washington University Law School, 2023 - Law clerk, Hon. Amy Coney Barrett, Supreme Court of the United States, 2020-2021 - Law clerk, Hon. Samuel A. Alito, Jr., Supreme Court of the United States, 2018-2019 - Law clerk, Hon. Richard J. Leon, U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, 2017-2018 - Law clerk, Hon. Brett M. Kavanaugh, U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit, 2016-2017 - As a U.S. Circuit Judge, Hermandorfer sits on the Sixth Circuit, which covers parts of Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Michigan, and Wisconsin ### Education ### Additional information - Senate Judiciary Committee: Reported favorably June 26, 2025 (12–10) - Senate cloture: July 10, 2025 (51–43) - Commission issued: July 17, 2025 - Confirmation vote: July 14, 2025 (46–42) - Private practice, Washington, D.C., 2015-2016, 2019-2020, 2021-2023 - Born Whitney Dianne Downs in 1987 in Clearwater, Florida, she earned a B.A. in Political Science (magna cum laude) from Princeton University in 2009 and a J.D. from George Washington University Law School in 2015, where she held the role of editor-in-chief of The George Washington Law Review and won the John Bell Larner Award for highest GPA - Began at Williams & Connolly LLP in Washington, D.C - focusing on appellate and administrative law - Servs., Inc. v - La-Z-Boy Inc. and United States v - Michael Hoffpowier - She has authored and participated in multiple appellate cases since her appointment, including Laurel Hill Mgmt - Hermandorfer is a member of the Federalist Society and has been active in legal education, including adjunct teaching at George Washington University Law School ## 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/13762030) - [Official roster](https://www.fjc.gov/node/13762030) - [Federal Judicial Center biography](https://www.fjc.gov/node/13762030) - [Federal Rule of Appellate Procedure 34, Oral Argument](https://www.uscourts.gov/forms-rules/current-rules-practice-procedure/federal-rules-appellate-procedure) - [Judge Whitney Downs Hermandorfer](https://www.fjc.gov/node/13762030) ## JSON-LD ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "WebPage", "@id": "https://knowjudges.com/kyj/judge/whitney-downs-hermandorfer", "url": "https://knowjudges.com/kyj/judge/whitney-downs-hermandorfer", "name": "Whitney Downs Hermandorfer | KnowJudges", "description": "Whitney Downs Hermandorfer, U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit. 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