3rd Circuit (incl. bankruptcy)

The United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit has appellate jurisdiction over several US states including: The District of Delaware, District of New Jersey, and the Districts of Eastern/Western/Middle Pennsylvania. The Third Circuit also manifests its jurisdictional power over the US Virgin Islands.

Unlike the 12-other circuit courts in the United States, the Third Circuit was created under the IV Amendment rather than the III, which the other courts were created under. There are a total of 11 courthouses in the Third Circuit. The main courthouse, for the Third Circuit is James A. Byrne United States Courthouse in Philadelphia, PA. The US District Court for Delaware is in Wilmington. The Eastern District of New Jersey is in Newark. In Pennsylvania, the Eastern District is in Philadelphia, Middle District in Scranton, and Western District sits in Pittsburgh. The District for the US Virgin Islands is in Charlotte Amalie, USVI.

The Third Circuit is highly influential in setting precedent and hearing cases which deal with major corporations. More than half of the major companies in the United States are incorporated in Delaware. Because of this lawsuit dealing with such corporations are typically heard by the District Court in the State. Cases where a state court lacks personal jurisdiction over individuals initiating a lawsuit typically go through the Circuit Courts.  

There are currently 14 active judges appointed under the Third Circuit and 11 senior judges. David Brooks Smith is the chief judge of the Third Circuit.

Several cases have been heard by the Third Circuit, a recent decision Piscataway School Board v Taxman (1996) was a case which dealt with racial-diversity. The ruling served as precedent for future Section VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 cases. This is just one of the many cases which has set judicial precedent for future cases in the District.  

The National Law Review covers litigation between major corporations and individual petitioners, bankruptcy proceedings, stockholder and derivative actions, appeals to the tax court, and bankruptcy petitions. Cases arising from Constitutional rights, federal duties, and cases which don’t fall under individual state courts’ jurisdiction are also highly covered on the website.